trophy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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. 2
   noun

   An object taken as a prize by a hunter, or a conqueror or belligerent, especially one that is displayed.

   The set of antlers which hung on the wall was his prized trophy.

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   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.

   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.

5. 5
   verb

   To adorn (someone) with trophies.

   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.

6. 6
   verb

   To win a trophy in a competition.

   He trophied at the 1993, 1994, 2012 and 2015 National Championships and was most proud of winning his class at the 2017 Spring Nationals.

7. 7
   noun

   something given as a token of victory

8. 8
   noun

   an award for success in war or hunting

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”).