Etymograph

English

cereal

Cereal comes from French céréale ‘having to do with cereal’, from Latin Cerealis ‘of or relating to Ceres’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-1‘grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerēs2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*Kerēs2reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECeres1‘Roman goddess of agriculture’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECerealis1‘of or relating to Ceres’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcéréale1‘having to do with cereal’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1818cereal1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cereal
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin Ceres
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Cereal (sīᵊ·riˌăl), a. and sb.: “Wheat .. is, of all the cereal seeds, the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, English cereal‘grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerēsWiktionary, Latin Ceresreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*KerēsWiktionary, Latin Ceresreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECeresWiktionary, English cereal‘Roman goddess of agriculture’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECerealisWiktionary, English cereal‘of or relating to Ceres’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcéréaleWiktionary, English cereal‘having to do with cereal’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1818cerealWiktionary, English cereal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Cereal (sīᵊ·riˌăl), a. and sb.: “Wheat .. is, of all the cereal seeds, the…”

Formed from Ceres + -al

Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, to nourish’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerēs

Proto-Italic *Kerēs

Latin Cerēs

English Ceres

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘grow’

increase, create, crew, increasing, creative, creator, decrease, creature, crescent, creole, croissant, increment, cru, excrement, accretion, procreation, kore, creat, 26 more

Today it means

noun A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cereal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin Ceres. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- / cereal

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