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Origin and history of cereal

cereal(n.)

1832, "grass yielding edible grain and cultivated for food," originally an adjective (1818) "having to do with edible grain," from French céréale (16c., "of Ceres;" 18c. in grain sense), from Latin Cerealis "of grain," originally "of Ceres," from Ceres, Italic goddess of agriculture, from PIE *ker-es-, from root *ker- (2) "to grow." The application to breakfast food cereal made from grain is American English, 1899.

also from 1832

Entries linking to cereal

*ker-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow."

It might form all or part of: accretion; accrue; cereal; Ceres; concrete; create; creation; creature; Creole; crescendo; crescent; crew (n.) "group of soldiers;" croissant; cru; decrease; Dioscuri; excrescence; excrescent; griot; increase; Kore; procerity; procreate; procreation; recreate; recreation; recruit; sincere.

It might also be the source of: Greek kouros "boy," korē "girl;" Latin crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell," Ceres, goddess of agriculture, creare "to bring forth, create, produce;" Armenian serem "bring forth," serim "be born."

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    grain
    early 14c., "a small, hard seed," especially of one of the cereal plants, also as a collective singular, "seed of wheat and allied grasses used as food;" also "something resembling grain; a hard particle of other substances" (salt, sand, later gunpowder, etc.), from Old French gr
    corn
    "grain," Old English corn "single seed of a cereal plant; seeds of cereal plants generally; plants which produce corn when...
    sorghum
    cane-like grass also known as Indian millet, 1590s, from Modern Latin Sorghum, the genus name, from Italian sorgo "a tall cereal...
    wheat
    Wheaties, the cereal brand name, was patented 1925....
    pabulum
    Pablum (1932), derived from this, is a trademark (Mead Johnson & Co.) for a soft, bland cereal used as a food for infants...
    rye
    type of cereal plant widely cultivated in central and northern Europe, Old English ryge, from Proto-Germanic *ruig (source...
    oat
    type of cereal plant, Middle English ote, from Old English ate (plural atan) "grain of the oat plant, wild oats," a word...
    buckwheat
    common name of a type of grain that provides food for humans and animals, 1540s, from Middle Dutch boecweite "beech wheat" (compare Danish boghvede, Swedish bovete, German Buchweizen), so called from resemblance of the triangular grains to beech tree nuts. Possibly a native forma
    grits
    plural of grit "coarsely ground grain," Old English grytt (plural grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from Proto-Germanic *grutja-, from the same root as grit (n.), the two words having influenced one another in sound development. In American English, corn-based grits and homin
    rice
    mid-13c., ris, "edible seeds or grains of the rice plant, one of the world's major food grains," from Old French ris, from Italian riso, from Latin oriza, from Greek oryza "rice," via an Indo-Iranian language (compare Pashto vriže, Old Persian brizi), ultimately from Sanskrit vri

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