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Glite Dictionary
🛕 Household gods 📦 Household goods 🏠 Home life
Penates

Penates

1 9.9
The things in a home that a family owns
  • noun
  • /pəˈneɪtiːz/
  • Archaic
: bienes
  • The family treasured their Penates, passing many items down through generations.

Examples

  • After the move, they carefully packed their Penates into labeled boxes for transport.

  • He returned home to find his Penates scattered after the storm.

  • The family's Penates are very important.

  • Don't forget your Penates!

  • The family treasured their Penates, passing many items down through generations.

  • After the move, they carefully packed their Penates into labeled boxes for transport.

  • He returned home to find his Penates scattered after the storm.

Synonyms

property
vsPenates
∞ 1.4

Something that a person or group owns, for example land and buildings

is limited to movable household goods not to land or buildings
belongings
vsPenates
114 1.0

Things a person owns and can carry

is focused on household movable goods rather than personal items
housewares
vsPenates
9 1.6

Things you use in the home for cooking and cleaning like pots and pans

is broader covering all movable household goods not only task equipment

Surface Forms

Penates singular
Penates plural

Etymology

Penates was the name of the household gods who watched over a family's food and things, so over time the word also came to mean the household's 'goods' or movable possessions. This makes it natural to use Penates for the things a family keeps in the home.