cereală

Forms

cereală f (plural cereale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French céréale^[2][1] and, as DELR, MDA2 and NODEX add, borrowed from Latin cereālis (“of Ceres”).^[3][4][5] DN names Italian cereale too and the Latin neuter plural Cereālia.^[6] The Latin adjective is formed on Cerēs, the Roman goddess of grain, with the suffix -ālis.^[3][1][7] French borrowed the adjective about 1550 in the sense “of Ceres”; the plural noun for grain plants is recorded from 1835.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is of 1832, the plural in the form țereale, with the sense “cereals, grain plants”.^[3] MDA2 cites the word only from the Academy dictionary (DA).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense it had in French: the grasses grown for their grain and, in the singular, one such plant.^[2][3] Older dictionaries explain it with the native grâne and bucate, and CADE in 1931 as the grains of which bread is made or which feed animals.^[9][10] In the 1950s the phrase cereale-marfă “marketable grain” belonged to the language of collectivised agriculture.^[11] Derivatives followed in the 20th century: cerealist “grain merchant” (1931), cerealier (1955) and cerealicultură “cereal farming” (1982).^[3]

Timeline

• 1832 – the plural țereale, the first record.^[3]
• 1931 – CADE: grains for bread and fodder.^[10]
• 1931 – cerealist “grain merchant”.^[3]
• 1955 – cerealier.^[3]
• 1982 – cerealicultură “cereal farming”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) Cereals: the group of grass plants (wheat, maize, barley, oats and others) whose seeds are food for people and animals and a raw material of the food industry.^[2][3][1]
2. A plant of this group.^[2][4]

Word family

• cerealicultură
• cerealier
• cerealist

Related words

• grâne
• French céréale

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 172
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. cereală
4. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 364
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. cereală
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. cereală
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 135
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cereală
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 394