tympanum

tympanum is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Zoöl.) One of the naked, inflatable air sacs on the neck of the prairie chicken and other species of grouse.
  2. 2.(Arch.) (a) The recessed face of a pediment within the frame made by the upper and lower cornices, being usually a triangular space or table. (b) The space within an arch, and above a lintel or a subordinate arch, spanning the opening below the arch.
  3. 3.(Mech.) A drum-shaped wheel with spirally curved partitions by which water is raised to the axis when the wheel revolves with the lower part of the circumference submerged, -- used for raising water, as for irrigation.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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