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Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Relating to architecture 🦗 Relating to eardrum
tympanal

tympanal

9.9
A thin skin on some insects that helps them hear
  • adjective
  • /ˈtɪmpənəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tímpano
  • The researchers studied the tympanal membrane to understand how insects hear.
  • tympanal organs

Examples

  • The new species clearly differs from L. egregia from Java in the absence of wings and tympanal organs and also in the characters of the male genitalia listed above.

    Academic text (2018)

  • In this species of grasshopper, the tympanal organs are located on the front legs.

  • The tympanal structures of the cricket help it detect sound vibrations more effectively.

Synonyms

tympanic
vstympanal
  • Specialized
1 8.1

Of the eardrum and nearby parts of the ear

is used for structures resembling the eardrum often in insects

Surface Forms

tympanal positive

Morphology

tympanal = tympanum (transparent) = tympan + al

This is a regular adjective formed from the noun 'tympanum' with the suffix '-al', so the sense 'relating to the eardrum' is directly recoverable from the base.

Etymology

Tympanal comes from the Greek tympanon, meaning 'drum'. A helpful way to remember the scientific use is to think of an 'eardrum' or the tiny drum in some insects that picks up sound, so tympanal means 'like a drum' or related to the eardrum.