lares and penates

American  

plural noun

1. Roman Religion. Lares and Penates, the benevolent spirits and gods of the household.

2. the cherished possessions of a family or household.

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lares and penates British  

/ ˈlɑː-, ˈlɛəriːz /

plural noun

1. Roman myth

   1. household gods

   2. statues of these gods kept in the home

2. the valued possessions of a household

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Etymology

Origin of lares and penates

1765–75; < Latin Larēs ( et ) Penātēs

Example Sentences

Her lares and penates range from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was the fifth place the Field household had set up its lares and penates since coming to Chicago.

From Eugene Field, a Study in Heredity and Contradictions — Volume 2 by Thompson, Slason

We had been quartered in this border town for more than a year, and the senior officers’ lady-wives had brought their lares and penates in three bullock-carts a-piece.

From Tomaso's Fortune and Other Stories by Merriman, Henry Seton

She did not represent the ancestral gods, the lares and penates, since she was not descended from them.

From Taboo and Genetics A Study of the Biological, Sociological and Psychological Foundation of the Family by Knight, Melvin Moses

Now, San Francisco, it is a real city, with all the metropolitan lares and penates, dignified and vividly active.

From Vignettes of San Francisco by Bailey, Almira