Kettledrum \Ket"tle*drum`\ (-dr[u^]m`), n.

1. (Mus.) A drum made of thin copper in the form of a hemispherical kettle, with parchment stretched over the mouth of it.

Note: Kettledrums, in pairs, were formerly used in martial music for cavalry, but are now chiefly confined to orchestras, where they are called tympani.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Tympano \Tym"pa*no\, n.; pl. Tympani. [It. timpano. See Tympanum.]

(Mus.) A kettledrum; -- chiefly used in the plural to denote the kettledrums of an orchestra. See Kettledrum. [Written also timpano.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)