Trophy

How to spell trophy

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trophy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trophy mean?

1. nounA cup, statuette, or other object awarded as a prize for victory or achievement.

Trophy in a sentence

• The winning team lifted the gleaming trophy above their heads.

• She polished the golf trophy before placing it on the mantelpiece.

Where does trophy come from?

Language of origin: Greek

Trophy descends from the ancient Greek tropaion, a monument that victorious soldiers raised on a battlefield, hung with the captured arms of the defeated enemy. That word came from trope, meaning 'a turning', because the monument marked the very spot where the enemy line had turned and fled. The Romans borrowed the idea and the word as trophaeum, and from there it passed into Old French as trophee, arriving in English in the late 1400s and 1500s. Over time the meaning shifted from a battlefield memorial to any prize or token won in a contest, and finally to the familiar cup or statuette awarded for sporting success. The spelling trap lies in the middle 'ph', which sounds like a plain 'f' but preserves the Greek phi, and in the final '-y' rather than the '-ee' the French ending might suggest.

How the word is built

• troph- (from Greek tropaion, a monument of victory)
• -y (noun suffix)