manes

The spirits of the dead, regarded as minor supernatural powers in ancient Roman religion.

The revered spirit of one who has died.

In Roman antiquity, the spirits of the dead considered as tutelary divinities of their families; the deified shades of the dead, according to the belief that the soul continued to exist and to have relations with earth after the body had perished.

Hence—2. The spirit of a deceased person, or the shades of the dead, whether considered as the object of a cult or not.

By metonymy— The lower world or infernal regions, as the abode of the manes.

The punishments imposed in the lower world.

The benevolent spirits of the dead, especially of dead ancestors, regarded as family deities and protectors.

The souls or spirits of dead ancestors, conceived as deities or the subjects of reverence.

Plural form of mane.

a Persian prophet who founded Manichaeism (216-276)