tympanize means 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1624, earned across 13 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tympanize ranks #357 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,090 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,260 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #1,321 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “tympanize” is a great word
To stretch a skin over a drumhead or to cause something to act or sound like a drum. From tympan (from Latin tympanum and Greek τýμπανον, meaning "drum") + the verbal suffix -ize. Unlike "drum," a general verb for percussive play, or "criticize," a word of judgment with which it is sometimes mistakenly conflated, to tympanize is a precise act of creation or imitation. It is the craftsman drawing wet hide taut across a wooden shell, the sudden thrum of rain on a stretched tarp, or the hollow, rhythmic knock of a heart against constricted ribs—the fundamental act of making a vessel ready to speak in the language of pulse and echo.
Etymology
From tympan + -ize.
verb
- 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.
- To drum.e.g.“prosperity does so tympanize mens souls , and intrance them from themselves ; that they forget they had a Maker.” — 1655, Richard Younge, A Christian Library […] :
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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