Abbreviations with Years ( AD / BC, CE / BCE)

We can see some abbreviations which are written with years. Lets see these abbreviations and what does they mean.

1) BC

• BC is the abbreviated form of “Before Christ”.
  
• It refers to a year before Jesus Christ was born in English. “BC” is always written after the year.
• Examples:

1. This Battle took place in 91 BC.
2. during sixth century BC
3. 556 BC
4. 44 BC

2) AD

• AD is the abbreviated form of “Anno Domini” which is a Latin phrase with the meaning of “in the year of the Lord”.
  
• It refers to a year after Jesus Christ was born. “AD” should be written before the year but we can see it after the year sometimes.
• Examples:

1. He died in AD 91.
2. during twelfth century AD
3. AD 800 / 800 AD

Note:

If neither of these abbreviations are written, the date is accepted as “AD“.

3) BCE

• Some people prefer to use “BCE” and “CE” words as abbreviations instead of “BC” and “AD”. Because they think that these abbreviations are more neutral terms for ( secular terms )
• The abbrevations “CE” and “BCE” are becoming more and more common today.
• BCE is the abbreviated form of “Before Common/Current/Christian Era”.
•  It refers to a year before the birth of Jesus Christ, when the Christian calendar starts counting years. “BCE” is an alternative term for “BC” and always written after the year.
• Examples:

1. Those animals lived between 1100 and 1800 BCE.
2. 950 BCE
3. 1000 BC = 1000 BCE ( “BC” and “BCE” represent the same time frame )

4) CE

• CE is the abbreviated form of “Common/Current/Christian Era”.
  
• It refers to a year after the birth of Jesus Christ, when the Christian calendar starts counting years. “CE” is an alternative term for “AD” and always written after the year.
• Examples:

1. These countries were independent in 500 CE.
2. 800 CE
3. AD 400 = 400 CE ( “AD” and “CE” represent the same time frame )

Note:

These abbreviations “BC, BCE, AD, CE” are capitalized.