WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Tro"phy
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [F. troph?e (cf. It. & Sp. trofeo), L. tropaeum, trophaeum, Gr. Trope.]
Definition : 1. (Gr. & Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: A sign or memorial of a victory raised on the field of battle, or, in case of a naval victory, on the nearest land. Sometimes trophies were erected in the chief city of the conquered people.

Note: A trophy consisted originally of some of the armor, weapons, etc., of the defeated enemy fixed to the trunk of a tree or to a post erected on an elevated site, with an inscription, and a dedication to a divinity. The Romans often erected their trophies in the Capitol.

2. The representation of such a memorial, as on a medal; esp. (Arch.), an ornament representing a group of arms and military weapons, offensive and defensive.

3. Anything taken from an enemy and preserved as a memorial of victory, as arms, flags, standards, etc. 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. Dryden.

4. Any evidence or memorial of victory or conquest; as, every redeemed soul is a trophy of grace.

Note: Some trophies(5) are unique, temporary possession of the same object passing to the new victors of some periodic contest in subsequent occurrences. Others are objects of little inherent worth, given by the authority sponsoring the contest to the victor. A trophy is sometimes shaped like a cup, and in such cases may be called a cup, as the America's Cup (in Yacht racing). Trophy money, a duty paid formerly in England, annually, by housekeepers, toward providing harness, drums, colors, and the like, for the militia.

pl. Trophies.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913