trophy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtɹəʊfi/
ipa: /ˈtɹɒfi/
ipa: /ˈtɹoʊfi/
note: Indic
ipa: /ʈɾɒfi/
note: Indic
ipa: /ʈɾofi/
rhymes: -əʊfi
Forms: form: trophies
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”).
Senses: examples: text: He won the trophy in a running competition.
glosses: An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement.
examples: text: The set of antlers which hung on the wall was his prized trophy.
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 2011 July 26, L. Samuelson, Tankograd: The Formation of a Soviet Company Town: Cheliabinsk, 1900s-1950s, Springer, →ISBN, page 200:
coordinate_terms: prize
glosses: An object taken as a prize by a hunter, or a conqueror or belligerent, especially one that is displayed.
examples: text: His trophies included his second wife, his successful children, the third and fourth homes in Palm Beach and Malibu, and his three yachts.
text: “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.
ref: 2018 June 8, Scott Reyburn, “Art Is Becoming a Financial Product, and Blockchain Is Making It Happen”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: Any emblem of success; a status symbol.
topics: criminology
human-sciences
law
sciences
glosses: An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime.
glosses: A tropæum.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1994, Philip Jenkins, Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide, →ISBN, page 117:
text: A trophy from this murder would have been of great importance.
ref: 2001, R. Michael Gordon, Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects, →ISBN, page 82:
text: 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.
ref: 2004, Ronald F. Becker, Criminal Investigation, →ISBN, page 168:
topics: architecture
art
arts
glosses: 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.
glosses: An artifact or artwork that has been stolen by a criminal and traded on the black market.
glosses: 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 boyfriend
trophy case
trophy girlfriend
trophy hunt
trophy hunting
trophy husband
trophy money
trophy partner
trophy room
trophy veep
trophy wife