Lar

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /lɑː/
• US IPA: /lɑɹ/, lɑɹ, lÉ‘Ëž

Origin

Latin lār ("guardian spirit") from Etruscan

Full definition of lar

Noun

1. A household or ancestral god in ancient Rome
• 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!, Would the great emperor’s lar, free of its soldierly body rheumatic from German mists and browned and grizzled by the Indus sun, haunt that pinedark road to Elefsis to taste again the essences on which it fed and gather with voluptuous fingers the ghosts of roses?
2. A species of gibbon (), found in Burma. Called also the common gibbon or white-handed gibbon.

Usage notes

Most often used in English as the capitalized plurale tantum Lares. More often pluralized lares as in Latin than lars.

Anagrams

• ALR, LRA