lares and penates

pl.n.
Treasured household possessions.

[Partial translation of Latin Larēs et Penātēs, household gods : Larēs, pl. of Lār, Lar + et, and + Penātēs, Penates.]

(LAR-eez and puh-NAY-teez)

noun
1. Household gods: the benevolent gods in an ancient Roman household.
2. Household goods: a family's treasured possessions.

Etymology
From Latin Lares et Penates, from Lares, plural of Lar (in Roman mythology, the deity or spirit who protected a household) + et (and) + Penates (deities of the household that were believed to bring wealth), from penus (provisions, interior of a house)

In an ancient Roman home a shrine for the guardian spirits was called lararium. A lararium from Pompeii:



[Photo: Patricio Lorente]

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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noun

One's portable property: belonging (often used in plural), effect (used in plural), good (used in plural), personal effects, personal property, possession (used in plural), property, thing (often used in plural). Informal stuff. Law chattel, movable (often used in plural). See owned/unowned.