tympan
\tɛ̃.pɑ̃\
The verdict
“tympan” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #30,011 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #30,011
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Cavité de forme irrégulière, qui constitue l'oreille moyenne, et qui est fermée du côté de l'oreille externe par une membrane.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tympan |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \tɛ̃.pɑ̃\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #30,011 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tympan” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for tympan is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \tɛ̃.pɑ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #30,011 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for tympan, with forms such as "tmypan", "ttympan", and "tymapn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "tyran", "tympans", "tampa", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is tympan, spelled T-Y-M-P-A-N.
Definition
- 1Cavité de forme irrégulière, qui constitue l'oreille moyenne, et qui est fermée du côté de l'oreille externe par une membrane.
- 2Membrane tympanique.
- 3Désigne divers instruments à percussion : tympanon, gong, etc.
- 4Espace qui se trouve encadré par les trois corniches du fronton, par le linteau et l’arc d’une porte (archivolte), par un arc et une ligne droite, etc.
- 5Panneau, orné ou ajouré, situé entre les moulures dans la partie supérieure d'un dormant de porte ou de fenêtre.
- 6Dans la presse à bras, sorte de châssis composé de quatre barres de bois ou de fer, sur lesquelles est tendu un morceau d’étoffe ou un parchemin.
- 7(Hydraulique) Roue hydraulique élévatoire, qui était mue autrefois par des hommes marchant à l’intérieur pour imprimer un mouvement de rotation.
- 8Pignon enté sur son arbre et qui engrène dans les dents d’une roue.
- 9Mur de tête d'un pont servant à maintenir les terres de remblai des voûtes.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: tmypan,ttympan,tymapn,tymmpan,tympann,tympna,tymppan,typman,tyympan,ytmpan
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tympan - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "tympan"?
What does "tympan" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "tympan"?
How do you pronounce "tympan"?
What language does "tympan" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “tympan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is T-Y-M-P-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \tɛ̃.pɑ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tyran” - see the side-by-side comparison. tympan vs tyran
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.