n. The innermost parts of a building, such as a shrine, recess or a sanctuary within a temple.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
noun-plural. The recesses, or innermost parts, of any thing or place, especially of a temple or palace.
noun-plural. Hidden things or secrets; privacy; sanctuary.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
The interior parts of anything; specifically, the inner parts of a building, as a temple or palace; hence, a sanctuary, especially the sanctuary of the Penates.
Hidden things; secrets.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. the innermost parts
Word Usage
"But the returns also returned a more profound and philosophical truth -- the truth that the self is a layered entity; the truth that there can be reverberations in the penetralia of our hearts that are beyond our ability to grasp or modulate."