# cereal

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ · frequency rank #10,508

## Definitions
1. A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains.
2. The grains of such a grass.
3. Breakfast cereal.

## 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).

## Easily confused with
- **cream** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-cream)
- **coral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-coral)
- **Ceres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-ceres)
- **corral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-corral)
- **corneal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-corneal)
- **cerebral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-cerebral)
- **serial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cereal-vs-serial)
- **carnal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carnal-vs-cereal)
- **carpal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carpal-vs-cereal)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccereal`, `ceeral`, `cerael`, `cereall`, `cerela`, `cerreal`, `creeal`, `ecreal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cereal