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—trophyless, adj./troh"fee/, n., pl. trophies.1. anything taken in war, hunting, competition, etc., esp. when preserved as a memento; spoil, prize, or award.2. anything serving as a token or evidence of victory, valor, skill, etc.3. a carving, painting, or other representation of objects associated with or symbolic of victory or achievement.4. any memento or memorial.5. a memorial erected by certain ancient peoples, esp. the Greeks and Romans, in commemoration of a victory in war and consisting of arms or other spoils taken from the enemy and hung upon a tree, pillar, or the like.[1505-15; earlier trophe < F trophée < L trop(h)aeum < Gk trópaion, n. use of neut. of trópaios, Attic var. of TROPAÎOS of turning or putting to flight, equiv. to trop(é) a turning (akin to trépein to turn) + -aios adj. suffix. See TROPE]
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▪ ancient Greek memorial(from Greek tropaion, from tropē, “rout”), in ancient Greece, memorial of victory set up on the field of battle at the spot where the enemy had been routed. It consisted of captured arms and standards hung upon a tree or stake in the semblance of a man and was inscribed with details of the battle along with a dedication to a god or gods. After a naval victory, the trophy, composed of whole ships or their beaks, was laid out on the nearest beach. To destroy a trophy was regarded as a sacrilege since, as an object dedicated to a god, it must be left to decay naturally. The Romans continued the custom but usually preferred to construct trophies in Rome, with columns or triumphal arches serving the purpose in imperial times. Outside Rome, there are remains of huge stone memorials, once crowned by stone trophies, built by Augustus in 7/6 BC at La Turbie (near Nice, Fr.) and by Trajan c. AD 109 at Adamclisi in eastern Romania.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
