Tympanum may refer to: *

Tympanum (architecture) A tympanum (plural, tympana; from Greek and Latin words meaning "drum") is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, door or window, which is bounded by a lintel and an arch. It often contains pedimental sculpture ...

, an architectural element located within the arch or pediment *

Tympanum (anatomy) The tympanum is an external hearing structure in animals such as mammals, birds, some reptiles, some amphibians and some insects. Using sound, vertebrates and many insects are capable of sensing their prey, identifying and locating their predat ...

, a hearing organ/gland in frogs and toads, a flat red oval on both sides of a frog's head * Tympanum, in biology, the

eardrum In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the extern ...

* Tympanum, or

tympanal organ A tympanal organ (or tympanic organ) is a hearing organ in insects, consisting of a membrane ( tympanum) stretched across a frame backed by an air sac and associated sensory neurons. Sounds vibrate the membrane, and the vibrations are sensed by ...

, a hearing organ in insects * Tympanum (hand drum), a percussion instrument in ancient Greece and Rome * Timpano, in music, singular of

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

, a kettledrum * Sakia or saqiya, in Latin "tympanum", a water-raising device *

Larnaca Tympanum The Larnaca Tympanum is a medieval sculpture in white marble found at Larnaca in Cyprus in the nineteenth century. It is now in the collection of the V&A in London, registered under the number A.2-1982. Discovery and early history The sculpture w ...

, a medieval sculpture

See also