'antrum-tympanum' is formed from Latin anatomical compounds: 'antrum' (Latin) meaning 'cave, cavity' and 'tympanum' (Latin, from Greek 'τύμπανον' / 'týmpanon') meaning 'drum (a membrane or drum-like structure)'.

The components 'antrum' and 'tympanum' come from Classical Latin/Greek anatomical usage; they were combined in Medieval and Modern Latin anatomical terminology (e.g. 'antrum tympanicum') and then adopted into English as 'tympanic antrum' or compound forms like 'antrum-tympanum'.

Originally each element meant 'cavity' ('antrum') and 'drum' ('tympanum'); together in anatomical usage they came to denote the specific ear cavity adjacent to the tympanic cavity (the modern anatomical meaning).