Trojan

How to spell trojan

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trojan

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trojan mean?

1. nounA malicious computer program disguised as legitimate software so that a user installs it unknowingly.
2. nounA person who works with great energy and stamina, used chiefly in the phrase 'work like a trojan'.

Trojan in a sentence

• The antivirus scan flagged a trojan hidden inside the free game.

• She worked like a trojan to finish the audit before the deadline.

• A trojan can steal banking passwords once it is running on a machine.

• The volunteers laboured like a trojan to clear the flooded basement.

Where does trojan come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the ancient city of Troy in Asia Minor, known in Greek as Troia and in Latin as Troia or Troiānus, meaning 'of Troy'. The name derives ultimately from Trōs, the legendary king after whom the Trojans were said to be named. The famous tale of the wooden horse, in which Greek soldiers hid inside a giant gift horse to breach the walls of Troy, gave English the phrase 'Trojan horse' for any deception that smuggles danger inside something welcome. From the reputation of Troy's defenders, English also gained the admiring expression 'to work like a trojan', meaning to labour with great energy and endurance. In the late twentieth century, computer security experts borrowed the wooden-horse image to name a kind of malicious program disguised as harmless software. The single -j- and the -an ending are the usual spelling snags, since the word is sounded with a soft 'j' but has no double letters.

How the word is built

• Troj- (from Troia, the city of Troy)
• -an (adjective/noun suffix meaning 'belonging to')