cereal

ce·re·al

Use cereal in a sentence

A bowl of breakfast cereal.

noun

The definition of cereal is a grain, or a breakfast food made from roasted grains and usually eaten with milk.

An example of a cereal is wheat.
An example of a breakfast cereal is Cheerios.

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"cereal." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal>.

APA Style

cereal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal

cereal

of grain or the grasses producing grain

Origin of cereal

from Classical Latin Cerealis, of Ceres, goddess of agriculture from Indo-European base an unverified form ?er-, an unverified form ?r?-, to grow: see create

any grain used for food, as wheat, oats, or rice
any grass producing such grain
food made from grain, esp. breakfast food, as oatmeal or cornflakes

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MLA Style

"cereal." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal>.

APA Style

cereal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal

cereal

noun

a. A grass such as wheat, oats, or corn, the starchy grains of which are used as food.
b. The grain of such a grass.
Any of several other plants or their edible seeds or fruit, such as buckwheat or certain species of amaranth.
A food prepared from any of these plants, especially a breakfast food made from commercially processed grain.

adjective

Consisting of or relating to grain or to a plant producing grain.

Origin of cereal

From Latin cereālis of grain from Cerēs Ceres ; see ker-² in Indo-European roots.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"cereal." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal>.

APA Style

cereal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal

A grass, such as corn, rice, sorghum, or wheat, whose starchy grains are used as food. Cereals are annual plants, and cereal crops must be reseeded for each growing season. Cereal grasses were domesticated during the Neolithic Period and formed the basis of early agriculture.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"cereal." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal>.

APA Style

cereal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cereal

Noun

(usually uncountable, plural cereals)

(countable) A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains.
(uncountable) The grains of such a grass.
(uncountable) Breakfast cereal.
Would you like some cereal?
(countable) A particular type of breakfast cereal.
Which cereal would you like for breakfast?

Related terms

crescent
sincere

Origin

From French céréale (“having to do with cereal”), from Latin Cerealis (“of or relating to Ceres”), from Ceres (“Roman goddess of agriculture”), from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“grow”), from which also Latin sincerus (English sincere) and Latin crēscō (“grow”) (English crescent).