tympan

[ tim-puhn ]

noun

1. Printing. a padlike device interposed between the platen or its equivalent and the sheet to be printed, in order to soften and equalize the pressure.
2. tympanum ( defs 2, 4 ).

tympan

/ ˈtɪmpən /

noun

1. a membrane stretched over a frame or resonating cylinder, bowl, etc
2. printing packing interposed on a hand-operated text between the platen and the paper to be printed in order to provide an even impression
3. architect another name for tympanum

Word History and Origins

Origin of tympan¹

before 900; Middle English: drum, Old English < Latin tympanum tympanum

Word History and Origins

Origin of tympan¹

Old English timpana, from Latin; see tympanum

Example Sentences

A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic.

From Project Gutenberg

Dainty, delicate, its rose-colored columns of granite appeared too thin for tangible weight; the tympan's sculptured designs, fanciful as the carvings in some palace of a poet's dreams.

From Project Gutenberg

Setting off may be prevented by slightly greasing or oiling a sheet which may be placed on the tympan if in press work, or the cylinder if at a machine.

From Project Gutenberg

This façade is of the fifteenth century and on the tympan of the dormer windows one may still see the monogram of its builder, Cottereau.

From Project Gutenberg

Mechanisms are employed to move the "tympan sheet" or outside covering of the second cylinder along at fixed intervals, but they are complicated and troublesome.

From Project Gutenberg