trophy

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^(key): /ˈtɹəʊfi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹoʊfi/
• Rhymes: -əʊfi

Noun

trophy (plural trophies)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. (criminology, by extension) An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime.
5. (historical, Ancient Rome) A tropæum.
6. (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.

7. An artifact or artwork that has been stolen by a criminal and traded on the black market.
8. An animal killed by a trophy hunter that usually has its parts sold on the black market.

Verb

trophy (third-person singular simple present trophies, present participle trophying, simple past and past participle trophied)

1. (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.

2. (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.