Dictionary

tympanize en · VERB

Etymology

From tympan + -ize.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, transitive) To stretch, as a skin over the head of a drum; to make into a drum or drumhead, or cause to act or sound like a drum.
   • Thou haſt plaid muſique to my dolefull ſoule; / And vvhen my heart vvas tympaniz'd vvith griefe, / Thou lauedſt out ſome into thy heart from mine, / And kept it ſo from burſting; […] c. 1613–1618 (first performance), Thomas Goffe, The Tragedy of Orestes, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Richard Meighen, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act IIII, scene ii, signature F2, verso:
   • 1807, B. Oley, "Prefatory View of Life and Virtues of the Author", in The Clergyman's Instructor by John Randolph Tympanized, as other saints of God were.
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To drum.
   • prosperity does so tympanize mens souls , and intrance them from themselves ; that they forget they had a Maker. 1655, Richard Younge, A Christian Library […] :

Forms