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.
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
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
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)
Penates, pē-nā′tēs, n.pl. the household gods of ancient Rome who presided over and were worshipped by each family.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
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
You will always see in every cubicle, above every bed in a long hut, the girl's own private gallery, the lares and penates which make of her, in her bed at least, an individual.
From The Sword of Deborah First-hand impressions of the British Women's Army in France by Jesse, F. Tennyson (Fryniwyd Tennyson)
They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares and penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the temples.
From Stories of the Olden Time (Historical Series—Book IV Part I) by Various
"I only got back this afternoon," said Peggy, who by this time had risen to her feet and was inspecting Philip's lares et penates.
From A Knight on Wheels by Hay, Ian
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.
