Dictionary

BCE en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable) Initialism of Before the Common Era, Before the Current Era, or Before the Christian Era.
   alt of Before the Common Era
   alt of Before the Current Era
   alt of or Before the Christian Era
   • The ancient Greek historian Herodotus claimed that the forebears of the Lycians, the Trm̃mili, "sprang originally from Crete", though modern-day scholars believe they were an Anatolian people who became Hellenised after Alexander the Great seized the region from the Persians in 333 BCE. […] Formed in the 2nd Century BCE and composed of 23 city-states, the Lycian League was the world's first democratic union, a model of a strong confederacy based on popular and proportional representation. 2023 September 7, Alastair Gill, “The ancient civilisation that inspired US democracy”, in BBC Travel, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2023:
   • Socrates was tried and executed in the year 399 BCE.
   • The earliest reliable accounts of Chinese eclipses come from Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch’un-ch’iu), recording eclipses from 772 to 481 BCE, including a total solar eclipse in 709 BCE. 2017, Mark Littmann, Fred Espenak, “Ancient Efforts to Understand”, in Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38:
   • We now know that circa 1600 BCE, the angara were created and seeded across Heleus by the Jardaan. Records of this process are less substantial than ancient angaran history, but it was apparently in service of a grand experiment. 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Angara: History Codex entry:

Forms

Antonyms

CE

Synonyms

BC

Translations (39)

ru до на́шей э́ры (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ka ახალ წელთაღრიცხვამდე (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ru до н. э. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · fr AÈC (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · da f.v.t. (før vor tidsregning) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · fi eaa. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sv f.v.t. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sk p.n.l. (pred naším letopočtom) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · de v. u. Z. (vor unserer Zeitrechnung) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sl pr. n. št. (pred našim štetjem) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sq para erës sonë (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ka ჩვენს წელთაღრიცხვამდე (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · bg пр.н.е. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · vi TCN (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sv fvt (före vår tideräkning) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ko 기원전 (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · nl gewone tijdrekening (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · kw KOK (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · fr av. n. è. (avant notre ère) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · es antes de la era común (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · fr av. è. c. (avant l'ère commune) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · kk б. з. д. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · sk pred n. l. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · pl p.n.e. (przed naszą erą) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · uk до н. е. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · nl onze jaartelling (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · hu i. e. (időszámításunk előtt) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · el π.Κ.Ε. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ka ჩვ. წ.-მდე (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ro î.e.n. (înainte de eră noastră) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · ka ახ. წ.–მდე (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · fr AEC (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · cmn 公元前 (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · cs př. n. l. (před naším letopočtem) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · la ante aer. vulg. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · de v. d. Z. (vor der Zeitrechnung/vor der Zeitenwende) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · lt pr. m. e. (rieš mūsų erą) (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · mk п.н.е. (secularized form of BC — see also BC) · la ante aer. comm. (secularized form of BC — see also BC)