cereal

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun grass whose starchy grains are used as food: wheat; rice; rye; oats; maize; buckwheat; millet
  2. noun foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
  3. noun a breakfast food prepared from grain

Etymology

Borrowed 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 *ḱer- (“grow”), from which also Latin sincerus (English sincere) and Latin crēscō (“grow”) (English crescent).

In classic literature

Synonyms

cereal grass

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
grass
Narrower (hyponyms)
wild rice, pearl millet, rice, rye, barley, millet

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