cereal
/ˈsɪərɪəl
/noun
1A grain used for food, for example wheat, maize, or rye.The inclusion rates of finely ground feed should be kept to a minimum (for example, ground cereals, maize gluten)....
- The higher inflation levels as observed in November were largely attributed to rising food prices especially mealie meal, maize grain, cereals and cereal products, meat, fish and kapenta.
- Prepared from germinated and sprouted grain and cereals, their food is rich in various nutrients, vitamins and enzymes and also helps in curing constipation, acidity, piles and skin diseases.
1.1A grass producing edible grain that is grown as an agricultural crop: [as modifier]: cereal crops...
- Maize silage and whole crop cereals (eg triticale) are two such alternative forages.
- Agriculture includes livestock-rearing, viticulture, and crops such as cereals, sugar beet, and potatoes.
- The winning presentation compared the use of various levels of untreated dairy sludge and vermicomposted dairy sludge for growing vegetables, cereals, grass and flowers.
2 [mass noun] A breakfast food made from roasted grain, typically eaten with milk: a bowl of cereal...
- One vet dealt with an iguana which had been fed on breakfast cereal and milk and kept loose in a bedroom with no source of ultraviolet light.
- There in the kitchen, they made a feeble breakfast of cereal and milk.
- They all looked at me and I just sat down and I got an empty bowl and the box of cereal and the milk and I fixed my breakfast.
Origin
Early 19th century (as an adjective): from Latin cerealis, from Ceres.
This is from Latin cerealis, from Ceres, the name of the Roman goddess of agriculture.