Main Difference
The main difference between Cereal and Oat is that the Cereal is a grass of which the fruits are used as grain, or the fruits themselves and Oat is a species of plant.
Cereal
A cereal is any edible components of the grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis) of cultivated grass, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat (Polygonaceae), quinoa (Amaranthaceae) and chia (Lamiaceae), are referred to as pseudocereals.
In their natural, unprocessed, whole grain form, cereals are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein. When processed by the removal of the bran, and germ, the remaining endosperm is mostly carbohydrate. In some developing countries, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, or maize constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. In developed countries, cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial.
The word cereal is derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture.
Oat
The oat (Avena sativa), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats are a nutrient-rich food associated with lower blood cholesterol when consumed regularly.Avenins present in oats (proteins similar to gliadin from wheat) can trigger celiac disease in a small proportion of people. Also, oat products are frequently contaminated by other gluten-containing grains, mainly wheat and barley.
Cereal (noun)
A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains.
Cereal (noun)
The grains of such a grass.
Cereal (noun)
Breakfast cereal.
“Would you like some cereal?”
“Which cereal would you like for breakfast?”
Oat (noun)
Widely cultivated cereal grass, typically Avena sativa.
“The oat stalks made good straw.”
“The main forms of oat are meal and bran.”
“World trade in oat is increasing.”
Oat (noun)
Any of the numerous species, varieties, or cultivars of any of several similar grain plants in genus Avena.
“The wild red oat is thought to be the ancestor of modern food oats.”
Oat (noun)
The seeds of the oat, a grain, harvested as a food crop.
Oat (noun)
A simple musical pipe made of oat-straw.
Oat (noun)
an Old World cereal plant with a loose, branched cluster of florets, cultivated in cool climates and widely used for animal feed.
Oat (noun)
the grain yielded by the oat plant, used as food
“porridge oats”
“oats are great health value”
Oat (noun)
used in names of wild grasses related to the cultivated oat, e.g. wild oat.
Oat (noun)
an oat stem used as a musical pipe by shepherds, especially in pastoral or bucolic poetry.