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Cerealia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɛ.reˈaː.li.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃe.reˈaː.li.a][1]

Forms

Cereālia n pl (genitive Cereālium); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin Cereālis (“of Ceres”), its neuter plural used as a noun.[1][2][3] The adjective is formed from Cerēs, the goddess of corn.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero names the festival in letters to Atticus,[2][5][4] and Varro names it in his work on the Latin language.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was the festival of Ceres in April, with games in the circus;[7][2][8] the sources differ on the day, which Lewis & Short give as 10 April, Georges as 12 or 13 April and Conte as 19 April.[2][8][6] Livy uses it in apposition, Ceriālia lūdī, “the games of Ceres”,[2][5][6] and Ovid writes of it in the Fasti.[2][3]

Pliny the Elder uses the neuter plural for cereals, grain crops.[8][6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names the Cerealia in letters to Atticus.[2][5][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy speaks of the Ceriālia lūdī.[2][5][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid writes of the festival.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for grain crops.[8][6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The Cerealia, the festival of Ceres, held in April, with games in the circus.[7][2][8][5]
  2. Grain crops, cereals.[8][6]

Usage notes

The OLD heads it Ceriālia, the spelling with ⟨i⟩ that Lewis & Short also note for Cicero's letters;[7][2] Wiktionary treats Ceriālia as another spelling of Cereālia.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn