Ceres
Americannoun
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Classical Mythology. a pre-Roman goddess of agriculture under whose name the Romans adopted the worship of the Greek goddess Demeter.
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Astronomy. one of the brightest and by far the largest asteroid in our solar system, discovered in 1801 and located in the asteroid belt: the first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres is also classified as a dwarf planet.
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a town in central California.
noun
noun
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The closest dwarf planet to the Sun , with an orbit in the asteroid belt. Ceres was the first object in the asteroid belt to be discovered (1801). Initially considered a planet, it was reclassified as an asteroid in the mid-1800s and as a dwarf planet in 2006. It has a diameter of about 960 km (595 mi).
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See more at dwarf planet
Etymology
Origin of Ceres
First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin Cerēs, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone; as a common noun, “wheat, corn; bread, food”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Rothstein is chief program officer of Ceres.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
That is why astrobiologists are increasingly turning their eyes toward icy bodies like the Jovian moons of Europa and Ganymede, Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, Uranus' moon Miranda and the dwarf planet Ceres.
From Salon • Jan. 4, 2025
Ceres I is a large crude oil carrying supertanker.
From BBC • Jul. 21, 2024
He said he had to close 8A Food Trucks’ headquarters in Ceres because angry clients kept going there to confront him.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2024
“Oh, nothing! Just back to Mercury Mines for twenty years. Or maybe Ceres Penitentiary.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
