Word.ws English Dictionary

penetralia

/ˌpɛ.nəˈtɹeɪ.li.ə/

penetralia noun: the innermost, secret or hidden parts; mysteries.

Noun

penetralia pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) The innermost, secret or hidden parts; mysteries.
  2. (plural, plural-only) The innermost parts of a building, such as a shrine, recess or a sanctuary within a temple.
    • I believe, had I been in the inmost recesses of my habitation—the very penetralia—your eagerness would have surmounted bolts, bars, decency, and everything.1748, [Tobias Smollett], The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC
    • He wished to be what he called "safe" with all those whom he had admitted to the penetralia of his house and heart.1857, Anthony Trollope, “Mrs. Bold is Entertained by Dr. and Mrs. Grantly at Plumstead”, in Barchester Towers. […], copyright edition, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, →OCLC...

Origin of penetralia

Borrowed from Latin penetrālia.

Words formed from penetralia

Words that rhyme with penetralia

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about penetralia

What does penetralia mean?
Penetralia means the innermost, secret or hidden parts; mysteries.
What part of speech is penetralia?
Penetralia is a noun.
How do you pronounce penetralia?
Penetralia is pronounced /ˌpɛ.nəˈtɹeɪ.li.ə/.

Words near penetralia in the dictionary

  1. penetrabilities
  2. penetrability
  3. penetrable
  4. penetrableness
  5. penetrably
  6. penetralia
  7. penetralian
  8. penetralium
  9. penetrameter
  10. penetrameters
  11. penetrance

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penetralia (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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