triumphal

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English triumphal,^[1] borrowed from Old French trionfal, also triumphal, and directly borrowed from Latin triumphālis,^[2][3][4][5] the Old French word being of the 12th century.^[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Klein name only the Latin source.^[6][7] The Latin adjective is formed from triumphus (“triumphal procession, victory”), the source of triumph, and -ālis.^[6][8] The noun is a variant, with a hypercorrect Greek-style aspirate, of earlier triumpus,^[8][3] ultimately, probably through Etruscan, from Ancient Greek θρίαμβος (thríambos, “hymn to Dionysus”).^[8][4][7] The OED only compares the Greek word,^[3] and Klein calls it a loan of pre-Hellenic origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or celebrating a triumph or victory, in J. Lydgate's Fall of Princes, dated 1430–40 by the OED.^[3] The Middle English Dictionary's quotation from the same poem, perhaps before 1439, speaks of Roman crowns callid Tryumphal, given to those honoured by a triumph.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective belonged first to the Roman triumph and its honours, though it was soon used of spiritual as well as military victory.^[2][4] From 1513, in G. Douglas's Virgil, it could also mean simply "victorious", a use the OED marks as obsolete after 1619,^[3][5] though Merriam-Webster Unabridged still lists a current sense equal to triumphant, as in a triumphal success.^[6] Around 1600 it was also a noun for an ode of victory, a celebration, a triumphal car or a token of triumph, all of which died out by the late 17th century.^[3] Johnson (1755) gives only the adjective, "used in celebrating victory".^[9]

Timeline

• 1430–40 – of or celebrating a triumph or victory.^[3][2]
• 1513 – victorious, triumphant (obsolete by 1619 in the OED).^[3][5]
• 1589 – noun, an ode of victory (rare).^[3]
• 1605 – noun, a triumphal celebration (obsolete by 1675).^[3]
• 1633 – noun, a triumphal car or chariot (rare).^[3]
• 1671 – noun, a token of triumph, in Milton's Paradise Regain'd (rare).^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or used in a triumph; held to honour or celebrate a victory: The generals rode through the capital in a triumphal parade.^[6][10][3]
2. Like a triumph; very successful, triumphant.^[6][10]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1605–1675) A triumphal celebration.^[3][5]

Word family

• triumphalism
• triumphal arch

Related words

• triumph
• triumphant

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins