'antral-tympanic' is formed from 'antral' (from Latin 'antrum', meaning 'cave' or 'cavity') and 'tympanic' (from Greek 'tympanon', meaning 'drum, tympanum').

'antral' comes from Latin 'antrum' and entered medical English via Medieval/Medical Latin; 'tympanic' derives from Greek 'tympanon' through Late Latin/Medieval Latin ('tympanicus') into English, and the combined hyphenated form arose in medical usage to describe regions involving both structures.

Individually, the roots originally meant 'cavity' ('antrum') and 'drumlike' or 'drum' ('tympanon'); combined as 'antral-tympanic' the term now specifically denotes a relationship to both the antrum and the tympanic (middle ear) cavity.