Ceres (mythology) - Etymology and Origins

Etymology and Origins

Religion in
ancient Rome
Marcus Aurelius (head covered)
sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Practices and beliefs
  • libation · sacrifice · votum · temples · festivals · ludi · funerals
  • Imperial cult · mystery religions
Priesthoods
  • Pontifex · Augur · Vestal · Flamen
  • Fetial · Epulones · Arval
Deities
  • List of Roman deities
  • Twelve major gods
  • Capitoline Triad · Aventine Triad
  • underworld gods · indigitamenta
  • Deified emperors:
  • Divus Julius · Divus Augustus
Related topics
  • Glossary of ancient Roman religion
  • Roman mythology
  • Religion in ancient Greece
  • Etruscan religion
  • Gallo-Roman religion
  • Interpretatio graeca
  • Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism

Ceres' name may derive from the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European root *ker, meaning "to grow", which is also a possible root for many English words, such as "create", "cereal", "grow", "kernel", "corn", and "increase". Roman etymologists thought "ceres" derived from the Latin verb gerere, "to bear, bring forth, produce", because the goddess was linked to pastoral, agricultural and human fertility. Archaic cults to Ceres are well-evidenced among Rome's neighbours in the Regal period, including the ancient Latins, Oscans and Sabellians, less certainly among the Etruscans and Umbrians. An archaic Faliscan inscription of c.600 BC asks her to provide far (spelt wheat), which was a dietary staple of the Mediterranean world. Throughout the Roman era, Ceres' name was synonymous with grain and, by extension, with bread.

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