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. 2019

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

Word Origin and History for penates

penates

Roman household gods, 1510s, from Latin penates "gods of the inside of the house," related to penatus "sanctuary of a temple" (especially that of Vesta), cognate with penitus "within" (see penetrate).