Cererian

See also: cererian

English

Alternative forms

• cererian
• Cererean
• Ceresian
• Cerean

Etymology

From Latin Cereris, genitive case of Cerēs.

Pronunciation

• Cererian or Cererean: IPA^(key): /səˈɹɪəɹɪ.ən/

Adjective

Cererian

1. Of or relating to the Roman goddess Ceres
   • 1823, William Booth, “Nasidien”, in Flowers of Roman poesy, page 42:

     Sprinkled with salt and Cererean grain

   • 1878, William Thomas Thornton, “Epode 16”, in Word for word from Horace, page 314:

     An untilled soil its yearly growth of grain Cererian yields

   • 1986, Sarah Iles Johnston, The Journal of Indo-European studies, volume 14, page 44:

     As a divinity of the earth, Mefitis shows in fact two aspects: cererian, she is goddess of plowing [...], and chthonian

   • 2004, Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the ancient world, page 233:

     We find, for example, at Agnone a "Cererian" Hercules and at Rossano a "Mefitanian" Mamers (= Mars); presumably these two major Italic divinities, Hercules and Mamers, were the "guests" of Ceres and Mefitis

2. Of or relating to the dwarf planet–asteroid Ceres
   • 2006 August, Tom Buckner, “Letters”, in Discover Magazine:

     Most of the ship's mass would be Cererian water; Earth would supply the crew, the ship's skin, and the engines. Ceres' surface gravity is about ¹/₃₆ Earth's gravity, and the asteroid is just close enough to the sun for it to power the machinery. Cererian water may unlock the solar system.

   • 2012, A.S. Rivkin et al., “The Surface Composition of Ceres”, in Christopher Russell, Carol Raymond,, editors, The Dawn Mission to Minor Planets 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres, page 109:

     Brucite itself has not been observed in meteorites in the amounts implied by Ceres' spectrum, which seems to minimize the likelihood that any Cererean material has been found by meteorite hunters.

   • 2012 September 21, “Dawn Spacecraft Finds Traces of Water on Vesta”, in Sci-Tech Daily:

     Vesta is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth and its maximum distance from the Sun is slightly farther than the minimum distance of Ceres from the Sun (2.56AU). However its orbit lies entirely within the Cererian orbit.

Related terms

• cereal

Noun

Cererian (plural Cererians)

1. An inhabitant of the asteroid Ceres
   • 2009, Martin Beech, Terraforming, page 225:

     Future, home-born Cererians will presumably become better adapted to their low gravitational environment