# trophy
## English
### Etymology

From Middle French trophée, from Latin trophaeum (“a sign of victory, a monument”), tropaeum, from Ancient Greek τρόπαιον (trópaion, “monument of an enemy's defeat”), from neuter of τροπαῖος (tropaîos, “of defeat”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “a rout, a turning of an enemy”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈtɹəʊfi/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈtɹoʊfi/
* Rhymes: -əʊfi

### Noun

trophy (plural trophies)
* An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement.
    He won the trophy in a running competition.
* An object taken as a prize by a hunter, or a conqueror or belligerent, especially one that is displayed.
    Coordinate term: prize
    The set of antlers which hung on the wall was his prized trophy.
** 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Around the posts hung helmets, darts, and spears, / And captive chariots, axes, shields, and bars, / And broken beaks of ships, the trophies of their wars.
** 2011 July 26, L. Samuelson, Tankograd: The Formation of a Soviet Company Town: Cheliabinsk, 1900s-1950s, Springer, →ISBN, page 200:Similarly, the Soviet defence industry tested their guns by firing against German trophy tanks or fired against new Soviet vehicles with German guns or German ammunition.
* Any emblem of success; a status symbol.
    His trophies included his second wife, his successful children, the third and fourth homes in Palm Beach and Malibu, and his three yachts.
** 2018 June 8, Scott Reyburn, “Art Is Becoming a Financial Product, and Blockchain Is Making It Happen”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:“The stakes are getting so high,” Mr. MacDonald-Korth said in a telephone interview, referring to the skyrocketing amounts being paid for trophy works of art.
* (criminology, by extension) An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime.
* (historical, Ancient Rome) A tropæum.
* (art, architecture) A display of weaponry and other militaria, often captured from a defeated enemy, as an ornament designed for the purpose of triumphalist display by a victor or as a show of military prowess by a monarch.
** 1994, Philip Jenkins, Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide‎, →ISBN, page 117:The souvenirs which many killers retain of their victims are often described as trophies, and Norman Bates's taxidermic interests derived from the real-life Ed Gein.
** 2001, R. Michael Gordon, Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects‎, →ISBN, page 82:A trophy from this murder would have been of great importance.
** 2004, Ronald F. Becker, Criminal Investigation‎, →ISBN, page 168:The offender is also likely to mentally relive his killings, often with the help of souvenirs or trophies, such as a bracelet or a body part taken from the victim.
* An artifact or artwork that has been stolen by a criminal and traded on the black market.
* An animal killed by a trophy hunter that usually has its parts sold on the black market.

#### Derived terms

* fuck trophy
* government trophy
* participation trophy
* trophy case
* trophy hunting
* trophy husband
* trophy money
* trophy room
* trophy veep
* trophy wife

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: トロフィー (torofī)
* → Korean: 트로피 (teuropi)
* → Malayalam: ട്രോഫി (ṭrōphi)

#### Translations
### Verb

trophy (third-person singular simple present trophies, present participle trophying, simple past and past participle trophied)
* (transitive) To adorn (someone) with trophies.
** 1798 July, Walter Savage Landor, “Book IV”, in Gebir; a Poem, […], London: […] Rivingtons, […], →OCLC, page 35, lines 29–32:How many a night serene, shall I behold / Those vvarm attractive orbits, close inshrined / In ether, over vvhich Love's column rose / Marmoreal, trophied round vvith golden hair.
* (intransitive) To win a trophy in a competition.
** 2021, “Harold C. 'Todd' Freeman, III”, in Star Tribune‎:He trophied at the 1993, 1994, 2012 and 2015 National Championships and was most proud of winning his class at the 2017 Spring Nationals.