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tympanist

tympanist

9.8
A musician who plays the large tuned drums in an orchestra or band
  • noun
  • /ˈtɪmpənɪst/
translation icon : timpanista
  • Every evening, the tympanist practiced diligently to master the challenging passages of the symphony.

Examples

  • In the orchestra, the tympanist ensured the rhythm was perfectly synced with the rest of the musicians.

  • And whence comes the lady tympanist?

    Academic text (1993)
  • The talented tympanist played a mesmerizing solo during the concert.

Synonyms

timpanist
vstympanist
1 9.5

A person who plays large tuned drums in an orchestra

is the other spelling form used for both orchestra and band players

How Specialized

tympanist
9.8

Surface Forms

tympanist singular
tympanists plural

Morphology

tympanist = timpani (transparent) = timpani + ist

Agentive suffix '-ist' added to the instrument name 'timpani' yields 'one who plays the timpani', a directly derivable meaning.

Etymology

The word tympanist comes from the old Greek word tympanon, which means 'drum', and from the instrument name timpani. So a tympanist is literally a person who plays the large orchestra drums called timpani.