tympany
- noun
- /ˈtɪmpəni/
- Archaic
:
tímpano
- Children enjoyed making music by beating the tympany at the community event.
Examples
-
The musician played a lively tune on the tympany during the festival.
-
In the orchestra, the vibrant sound of the tympany added rhythm to the performance.
-
At last, the season finally turns warmer, and the bells of St. Agnes tune up for Easter, shaking the walls of my apartment with their tympany.
Fiction book (1995)
Synonyms
21
3.4
A small hand drum with metal jingles that you shake or hit
3
3.5
A small drum with metal wires across one side that makes a sharp sound
3
3.3
A thing you hit, shake, or scrape to make sound in music
1
7.9
A pair of small drums played with the hands in Indian music
1
9.9
A small hand drum like a tambourine used long ago in ceremonies
1
8.4
A large bowl-shaped drum played with mallets
1
9.9
A small drum that you play with a stick in folk music or music from long ago
1
9.9
A drum played in parades and folk music, common in Germany
A hollow drum with a tight skin over both ends that you play by hitting
A single large drum with a bowl shape used in orchestras
A large round drum made of metal with a skin you can tighten to change the sound
A pair of shallow metal drums played with sticks in Latin American music
A musical instrument like a drum that makes sound when you hit a stretched skin
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
tympany = tympanum (semi-transparent) = tympan + y
The sense 'drum/tambourine' directly reflects the base meaning, but the rare/archaic combining form makes it less obvious to learners.
Etymology
Tympany once meant a drum or tambourine and comes from the word tympanum 'drum', so it was the name for a percussion instrument that you hit to make sound.