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• Penates
  Penates

  plural noun

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

  plural noun

  See lares and penates

Penates

American  

[puh-ney-teez, -nah-] / pəˈneɪ tiz, -ˈnɑ- /

Or penates

plural noun

Roman Religion.

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

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penates British  

/ pəˈnɑːtiːz /

plural noun

1. See lares and penates

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Etymology

Origin of Penates

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

Example Sentences

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

Among the Romans, Vesta was not the only goddess invoked on the family hearth, for she shared that place of honor with the Lares, Manes, and Penates, who all enjoyed special veneration and sacrifices.

From Myths of Greece and Rome Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art by Guerber, H. A. (H?l?ne Adeline)

There were also the Penates in every home, whom it would perhaps be hard to distinguish very clearly from the Lares.

From The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire by Glover, T. R. (Terrot Reaveley)