tympan noun. ['tɪmpǝn]
[Old English timpana from Latin TYMPANUM; later reinforced by Old & mod. French tympan.]
1. a. A drum; a similar percussion instrument, as a tambourine. arch. OE.
b. [Irish tiompán.] An ancient Irish stringed instrument played with a bow. LME.

2. Anatomy & Zoology. = TYMPANUM 2. M16-E18.

3. Printing. A frame covered with taut material, into which a smaller similarly covered frame is fitted, with packing of cloth or paper between the two surfaces, interposed between the platen and the paper to be printed in order to cushion and equalize the pressure; the taut material covering such a frame (also tympan sheet). L16.
b. A tense membrane or thin plate in any mechanical apparatus. L19.

4. Architecture. = TYMPANUM 3. E18.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲