Common Era

The Common Era refers to the conventional numbering of years (in the Julian and Gregorian calendars) from an epoch based on the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus Christ. This convention for year numbering was introduced by the christian monk Dionysius Exiguus in 525 CE, although it was not widely used until later.

Years before the epoch were denoted A.C.N. (for Ante Christi Natus, Latin for "before the birth of Christ"), although B.C. ("Before Christ") is now usually used in English.

These abbreviations are placed after the year number, which is counted backward from 1; that is, the first year before the epoch is "1 B.C", the second year before the epoch is "2 B.C", etc. Years after the epoch are denoted A.D. (for Anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of the Lord"). In strict literal latin, the number should follow AD, but in practice, the number has generally come to be placed in front of the letters, e.g. "1 A.D" (there being no year 0), etc.

C.E., an abbreviation for "Common Era" or "Christian Era", is equivalent to A.D. and is preferred by some in secular writing. B.C.E., an abbreviation for "Before Common Era" or "Before Christian Era", is equivalent to B.C., and is likewise placed after the year number.

Synonyms:

Before Common Era ("BCE"), Before Christ ("BC"), Ante Christum Natum ("ACN")
Common Era ("CE"), Anno Domini ("A.D.")

Due to the dominant influence of Christianity in the development of Western civilization over the last 2,000 years, the initials B.C. (or A.C.N) and A.D. have been used, to a large extent without question, for many centuries. Rejecting the historical dominance of Christianity in Western civilization, the movement to substitute B.C.E./C.E. for B.C./A.D. has grown in Anglo-Saxon academia and elsewhere.

External link

The Julian and Gregorian Calendars