lararium

/ləˈɹɛəɹi.əm/

Etymology

From Latin larārium.

lararium means In an ancient Roman home, the part of the house set aside as a shrine or chapel for the household gods. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

LARARIUM — [Noun] A shrine or chapel in an ancient Roman home, dedicated to the household guardian spirits, the Lares. From the Latin larārium, a derivative of Lar, Laris ("household god, guardian spirit") and the suffix -ārium ("place for"). Unlike a sacellum (a general, often public, consecrated enclosure) or an aedicula (a small architectural niche for any statue), the lararium was the intimate, domestic axis of familial piety. It was the worn shelf bearing soot-darkened figurines, the habitual pinch of meal offered at dawn, and the quiet murmur of a morning libation—a fixed point of ritual in the flowing uncertainty of domestic life, the only immovable furniture in the flux of a household's fortunes.

noun

In an ancient Roman home, the part of the house set aside as a shrine or chapel for the household gods.