Definitions

lares and penates

NOUN

household gods

Synonyms

WEAK

Hestia Vesta household effects household possessions

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Her lares and penates range from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.

From Time Magazine Archive

Into the house he dashed, and as he recognised his lares and penates he uttered a howl of triumph.

From Bindle Some Chapters in the Life of Joseph Bindle by Jenkins, Herbert George

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

We are to swear by our own lares and penates, and stand up for the American eagle, right or wrong.

From Confessions and Criticisms by Hawthorne, Julian

We had been quartered in this border town for more than a year, and the senior officers’ lady-wives had brought their lares and penates in three bullock-carts a-piece.

From Tomaso's Fortune and Other Stories by Merriman, Henry Seton