lares and penates

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The Word of the Day for November 26 is:=20

lares and penates   \LAIR-eez-end-puh-NAY-teez\   noun
          1 : household gods
    *2 : personal or household effects

Example sentence:
          =E2=80=9CWell, Mr. F., his wife, children, mother and stepdadd=
y, along with his lares and penates, moved out of here forever on a pick=
-up last Tuesday.=E2=80=9D (Flannery O'Connor, Letter, June 1, 1957)

Did you know?
          The phrase =E2=80=9Clares and penates=E2=80=9D is at home in t=
he elevated writings of scholars. A classicist could tell you that Lares=
 and Penates were Roman gods once worshipped as guardians of the househo=
ld, and an avid Walpolian might be able to tell you that his or her favo=
rite author (Horace Walpole) is credited with first domesticating the ph=
rase to refer to a person=E2=80=99s possessions. In the centuries since =
Walpole used =E2=80=9Clares and penates=E2=80=9D in a 1775 letter to the=
 English poet William Mason, the phrase has become solidly established i=
n the English language, and it continues to be used by authors and journ=
alists today.=20





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