a poetical term, signifying the shades or souls of the deceased.

Dii Manes were the same with the inferi, or infernal gods, who tormented men; and to these the heathens offered sacrifices to assuage their indignation. The heathen mythology is a little obscure respecting these gods' manes. Some hold that they were the souls of the dead; others that they were the genii of men, an opinion which suits best with the etymology of the word.