1505–15; < Latin Penātēs, akin to penus stock of provisions
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Every Roman family had a Lar, who was the spirit of an ancestor, and several Penates, gods of the hearth and guardians of the storehouse.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
There were also public Lares and Penates, who did for the city what the others did for the family.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
The most prominent and revered of them all were the Lares and Penates.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
We both of us have a desire for 'the accustomed'—for Lares and Penates.
From Comrade Yetta by Edwards, Albert
Anchises bore with him the sacred Penates of Troy, and his household gods.
From The Student's Mythology A Compendium of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Hindoo, Chinese, Thibetian, Scandinavian, Celtic, Aztec, and Peruvian Mythologies by White, Catherine Ann
In addition, the penates, figurines of household gods, were put on the dining table during meals and worshipped as protectors of the home.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Her lares and penates range from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yes; the images of their penates, or household gods, were to be found in every dwelling.
From The Student's Mythology A Compendium of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Hindoo, Chinese, Thibetian, Scandinavian, Celtic, Aztec, and Peruvian Mythologies by White, Catherine Ann
I therefore resolved to take my lares and penates to France, where, at the moment, the pulse of the world was throbbing most strongly.
From An Autobiography by Stravinsky, Igor
The R.T.O. at Boulogne was bored; the A.S.C. officers at railhead were bored; the quartermaster guarding the regimental penates in a field west of Ypres was bored.
From Men, Women and Guns by McNeile, H. C. (Herman Cyril)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
