Penates

or pe·na·tes

[ puh-ney-teez, -nah- ]

/ pəˈneɪ tiz, -ˈnɑ- /

plural noun Roman Religion.

gods who watched over the home or community to which they belonged: originally, two deities of the storeroom.

Compare Lares.

Origin of Penates

1505–15; < Latin Penātēs, akin to penus stock of provisions

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for penates

Thank the Lares and Penates that Howard Fast wrote Spartacus for similar reasons.
Erica Jong Defends Feminist Revolution|Erica Jong|March 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
This grinning little deity--the facsimile of an Indian idol--must express their idea of the Penates.
A Love Story|A Bushman
Golden masks decorated with stones were placed upon their faces, just as ancient families rendered homage to the Penates.
De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2)|Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt
We will set up our Lares and Penates in its very centerahem!
Three Little Women's Success|Gabrielle E. Jackson

That, says Hume, is the nearest approach to a fight for its penates he has ever seen a sarus make.
Glimpses of Indian Birds|Douglas Dewar
Had they the art of making images or other representations of them they would be perfect lares, penates, or household gods.
The History of Sumatra|William Marsden

British Dictionary definitions for penates

penates

/ (pəˈnɑːtiːz) /

pl n

See lares and penates

Word Origin for penates

Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012