tympan /ˈtɪmpən/ noun5 •The stretched membrane of a drum. •A tympanum. •The tympanum of the ear.But soon I grew used to these sounds, and then I understood as well as ever, that is to say fully one half of what won its way past my tympan. — 1953 •A piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed.As the pressman returns the inkballs to the inkstone, the journeyman closes the frisket and tympan. — 2000 •A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end. formstympans
