Cereal Is Named After a Roman Goddess
Cereal means grain crops, and the breakfast made from them. The name honours Ceres, goddess of agriculture.
Cereal means a grass grown for its edible grain, and the breakfast food made from it. The name is a dedication: *cerealis* meant of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain. Few everyday words carry a deity's name so directly, and none of them are eaten from a bowl quite so often.
- A grain crop. *Cereal production.*
- Breakfast food. *A bowl of cereal.*
- Cereal as a modifier. *Cereal farming.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cereal | Breakfast cereal. |
| Plural | cereals | Winter cereals. |
| Adjective | cereal | Cereal crops. |
| Homophone | serial | A serial number. |
| Related | grain | Whole grain. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Wheat, rice and maize are the main cereals.They provide most of the world's calories.
- Cereal and serial sound identical.Homophones.
- Ceres gave the word its name.Roman religion.
The major cereals
- Maize — the largest crop by volume
- Wheat — the staple of much of Europe and Asia
- Rice — the staple for over half the world's people
- Barley — mostly for animal feed and brewing
- Oats, rye, sorghum, millet — regionally important
From Latin *cerealis*, of Ceres, the goddess of grain and agriculture. The breakfast sense is American, from the late nineteenth century.
Cereal or serial?
Cereal is grain. Serial means arranged in a series. They sound identical and share no origin.
Which cereal feeds the most people?
Rice is the staple food of more than half the world's population, though maize is grown in greater volume overall.