Know Your Next Word : lares and penates

14. lares and penates :

noun :

1. Household gods : the benevolent gods in an ancient Roman household

2. Household goods : a family's treasured possessions



Usage :

But let's face it, the nearest thing that many Aussies have in the way of religion, or, as it is labelled with new-age vagueness, spirituality, are those little do-it-yourself offerings to the roadside gods, the lares and penates of the new-age pantheists.(The Soft Toy Taking on a Religious Symbolism : The Canberra Times (Australia) : Jan 14 - 2006.)

The storehouse of all the shame and vulnerability in [Ben's] life would be locked; a private museum of curios with but one visitor, himself, to stare at the degraded and rejected lares and penates.(Kate Fillion : The Artful Forgery of the Self : The Toronto Star (Canada) : Feb 6 - 1993.)



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