lares and penates
UK/ˌlɛəɹiːz ənd pɪˈnɑːtiːz/US/ˌlɛɹiz ənd pɪˈnɑtiz/
lares and penates noun: the household deities of ancient Rome, respectively overseeing the family and its house and storerooms.
Noun
lares and penates pl (plural only)
- The household deities of ancient Rome, respectively overseeing the family and its house and storerooms.
- The particular gods of the household were its lares and penates.1995, Antony Kamm, The Romans: An Introduction, page 87
- Synonyms:
- household deity
- One's prized possessions, considered as the protectors or symbols of one's household.
- I am returned to my own Lares and Penates—to my dogs and cats.1775, Horace Walpole, letter
- Dissenters came to South Carolina in the decade 1680-1690, some of them persons of means who might have brought with them their lares and penates.1949, Anna Wells Rutledge, Artists in the Life of Charleston, page 111
Synonyms of lares and penates
Origin of lares and penates
A calque of Latin lares et penates. See lar and penates.
Questions about lares and penates
- What does lares and penates mean?
- Lares and penates means the household deities of ancient Rome, respectively overseeing the family and its house and storerooms.
- What part of speech is lares and penates?
- Lares and penates is a noun.
- How do you pronounce lares and penates?
- Lares and penates is pronounced /ˌlɛəɹiːz ənd pɪˈnɑːtiːz/ (UK).
Words near lares and penates in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lares and penates (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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