Path. [Late L. tympanītēs, a. Gr. τυμπανἰτης (Galen), f. τύμπανον drum: cf. ASCITES. So Pg. tympanites, F. tympanite (OF. timpanides), It. timpanite.] Distension of the abdomen by gas or air in the intestine, the peritoneal cavity, or the uterus.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VII. lii. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 64 b/1. Þe ferþe [kind of dropsy] hatte Tympanytes … for if þe wombe is ysmete it sowneþ as a taboure oþer a tymber.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 282. Þe .iij. [maner dropesie] is engendrid of greet wynd resolued of coold mater, & falliþ into þe holownes of þe wombe, & is clepid tympanites. Ibid., 283 [see TYMPAN 1].
1651. Baxter, Inf. Bapt., 260. If a Physitian ask, How many Tympanites have you known cured?
1694. Salmon, Bate’s Dispens. (1713), 7/1. Water of black Cherries compound … is a most powerful Remedy in the Cure of a Tympanites.
1767. Gooch, Treat. Wounds, I. 411. The Abdomen was … distended, as if the patient had been afflicted with an Ascites or Tympanites.
1872. T. G. Thomas, Dis. Women (ed. 3), 261. Abdominal enlargement from tympanites.
1899. [see TYPHOID a. 2 b].
