Cereal vs. Grain: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Cereal refers to grasses cultivated for their edible grains or seeds, like wheat and rice, while grain denotes the small, hard seeds of these cereals and other plants.
Key Differences
Cereal typically refers to members of the grass family grown for their edible seeds. These include plants like wheat, rice, and corn. Grain, however, represents the small, hard, dry seeds harvested from cereal crops or other plants, used in various food products and for planting.
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Nov 27, 2023
In agriculture, cereal crops are significant for human consumption and are cultivated globally. These crops include barley, oats, and rye, among others. Grain from these cereals is processed into various food products like flour, bread, and pasta, highlighting its versatility in culinary uses.
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Nutritional aspects of cereal crops include being rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and, in some cases, protein and vitamins. The grain of these cereals, such as brown rice or whole wheat, often retains more nutrients compared to processed forms, emphasizing the importance of whole grains in diet.
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Nov 27, 2023
The term cereal in common usage also extends to breakfast cereals, which are processed food products made from roasted or boiled grains. On the other hand, grain encompasses a wider range of seeds, including those from non-cereal plants like quinoa and amaranth, used in various culinary contexts.
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Nov 27, 2023
From a botanical perspective, cereal plants are members of the Poaceae or grass family, specifically cultivated for their edible grains. Grain, in contrast, can be referred to as the fruit of these plants, technically known as a caryopsis, where the seed coat is fused with the fruit wall.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Grasses grown for edible seeds
The small, hard seeds of cereals and other plants
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Nutritional Content
Carbohydrates, fiber, proteins
Retains more nutrients in whole form
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Botanical Aspect
Members of the grass family
The fruit (caryopsis) of these plants
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Cereal and Grain Definitions
Cereal
Plants producing grains consumed by humans.
Rice, a staple cereal, is central to many Asian cuisines.
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Grain
Small, hard seeds of cereals and other plants.
A grain of rice is the staple food for many cultures.
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Nov 27, 2023
Cereal
Edible seeds of the Poaceae family.
Barley, an ancient cereal, is used in brewing and soups.
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Grain
Basic unit used in agriculture and cooking.
Measuring grain by weight ensures precision in recipes.
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Cereal
Processed food products made from grains.
Breakfast cereals are popular in many households.
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Grain
Seeds used for food products, planting.
Grain from wheat is milled into flour for bread.
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Cereal
A source of carbohydrates, cultivated globally.
Oats, a cereal, are often eaten as porridge for breakfast.
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Nov 27, 2023
Grain
A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united
A single grain of wheat.
Gleaned the grains from the ground one at a time. Also called caryopsis.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cereal
Grasses cultivated for their edible seeds.
Wheat is a common type of cereal used in bread making.
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Nov 27, 2023
Grain
The fruits of cereal grasses especially after having been harvested, considered as a group
The grain was stored in a silo.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cereal
A grass such as wheat, oats, or corn, the starchy grains of which are used as food.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cereal
Any of several other plants or their edible seeds or fruit, such as buckwheat or certain species of amaranth.
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Grain
A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass
A grain of sand.
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Cereal
A food prepared from any of these plants, especially a breakfast food made from commercially processed grain.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
A small amount or the smallest amount possible
Hasn't a grain of sense.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cereal
(countable) A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
Abbr. gr. A unit of weight in the US Customary System, an avoirdupois unit equal to 0.002285 ounce (0.065 gram).
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
The markings, pattern, or texture of the fibrous tissue in wood
Cherry wood has a fine grain.
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Cereal
(uncountable) Breakfast cereal.
Would you like some cereal?
Which cereal would you like for breakfast?
A bowl of cereal
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Cereal
Of or pertaining to the grasses which are cultivated for their edible seeds (as wheat, maize, rice, etc.), or to their seeds or grain.
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Grain
The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cereal
Any grass cultivated for its edible grain, or the grain itself; - usually in the plural.
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Cereal
Grass whose starchy grains are used as food: wheat; rice; rye; oats; maize; buckwheat; millet
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Grain
The pattern produced, as in stone, by the arrangement of particulate constituents.
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Grain
The relative size of the particles composing a substance or pattern
A coarse grain.
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Grain
A painted, stamped, or printed design that imitates the pattern found in wood, leather, or stone.
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Cereal
Made of grain or relating to grain or the plants that produce it;
A cereal beverage
Cereal grasses
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Grain
Basic temperament or nature; disposition
It goes against my grain to ask for help.
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Grain
An essential quality or characteristic
"Toughness as a virtue ... is, needless to say, fully embedded in the American grain" (Benjamin DeMott).
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Grain
To paint, stamp, or print with a design imitating the grain of wood, leather, or stone.
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Grain
(uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
(uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
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Grain
(countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
A grain of wheat
Grains of oat
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Grain
The crops from which grain is harvested.
The fields were planted with grain.
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Grain
(uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
Cut along the grain of the wood.
He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
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Grain
(countable) A single particle of a substance.
A grain of sand
A grain of salt
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Grain
(countable) Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
The English grain of 5760 troy pound or 7000 pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
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Grain
The metric, carat, or pearl grain of 4 carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
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Grain
(historical) The French grain of 9216 livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
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Grain
The carat grain of 4 carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
(materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
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Grain
(rocketry) The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
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Grain
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
(in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
(botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
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Grain
Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
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Grain
An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
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Grain
(intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
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Grain
To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
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Grain
To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).
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Grain
To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
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Grain
A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.
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Grain
The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; - used collectively.
Storehouses crammed with grain.
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Grain
Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc.
I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved.
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Grain
The unit of the English system of weights; - so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram.
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Grain
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
All in a robe of darkest grain.
Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
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Grain
The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain.
Hard box, and linden of a softer grain.
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Grain
The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.
Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,Infect the sound pine and divert his grainTortive and errant from his course of growth.
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Grain
The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.
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Grain
The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
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Grain
Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
Brothers . . . not united in grain.
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Grain
A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.
He cheweth grain and licorice,To smellen sweet.
The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain.
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
Dry seedlike fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
The direction or texture of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric;
Saw the board across the grain
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Oct 19, 2023
Grain
Edible part of cereal plants, rich in nutrients.
Whole grain bread retains more natural nutrients.
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Nov 27, 2023
Grain
Botanically, a type of fruit known as a caryopsis.
Each grain of corn is actually a fruit of the corn plant.
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Nov 27, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What does grain mean?
Grain is the small, hard seed of cereals and other plants.
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Nov 27, 2023
Can cereal be used interchangeably with grain?
Not exactly, cereal refers to the plants, while grain refers to their seeds.
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What are common examples of cereals?
Wheat, rice, and corn are some of the most common cereals.
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How are cereals used in food?
Cereals are processed into various products like flour and breakfast cereals.
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What is whole grain?
Whole grain includes all parts of the grain seed, retaining more nutrients.
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Is rice a cereal or a grain?
Rice is a cereal, and its edible part is referred to as a grain.
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Are cereals only used for human consumption?
Primarily, yes, though they also have uses in animal feed and industry.
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Are all grains cereals?
Mostly, but some grains like quinoa come from non-cereal plants.
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What is a cereal?
Cereal refers to grasses cultivated for their edible grains or seeds.
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Are cereals and grains important in a balanced diet?
Absolutely, they are essential sources of energy and nutrients.
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What's the role of cereals in agriculture?
Cereals are major staple crops vital for global food security.
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Can grain be processed into different products?
Yes, grains like wheat are processed into flour, bread, and other products.
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How is grain harvested?
Grain is harvested from cereal plants using various agricultural techniques.
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How do cereals differ in various cultures?
Different cultures prefer different cereals, like rice in Asia and wheat in Europe.
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Can grains be stored for long periods?
Yes, when properly dried and stored, grains can have a long shelf life.
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Nov 27, 2023
Do cereals have nutritional value?
Yes, cereals are typically rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and sometimes protein.
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Nov 27, 2023
Do cereals grow in all climates?
Different cereals are suited to different climates, but they are quite adaptable.
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Are all cereal grains edible?
Most are, but some are used for purposes like animal feed or industrial use.
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Nov 27, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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