As the name suggests, BC or Before Christ refers to the number of years before Christ was born. AD or Anno Domini is the period after Christ was born. BCE and CE stand for 'Before Common Era' and 'Common Era' and are alternatives to BC and AD respectively.

The form "BC" is specific to English, and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is ante Christum natum (ACN) or ante Christum (AC). This calendar era takes as its epoch the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus.

In the modern calendar, we label all years with B.C. (before Christ) or A.D. (anno domini, or "in the year of our lord"). There is no "zero" year -- in this system, the year Christ was born is 1 A.D., and the year preceding it is 1 B.C. This practice was first suggested in the sixth century A.D., and was adopted by the pope of that time.

May 31, 2021 · The abbreviations BCE and CE are nonreligious alternatives to BC and AD. While the BCE/CE notation is generally preferred in scientific and academic writing, BC/AD is the more common choice in writing meant for a general audience.

Jan 4, 2022 · B.C. does stand for “before Christ.” A.D. actually stands for the Latin phrase anno domini, which means “in the year of our Lord.” The B.C./ A.D. dating system is not taught in the Bible. It actually was not fully implemented and accepted until several centuries after Jesus’ death. It is interesting to note that the purpose of the B.C./

Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era.

BC stands for 'Before Christ' and refers to all the years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The numbers go backward from year 1, so 500 BC is earlier than 200 BC. AD stands for the Latin phrase 'Anno Domini', which means 'in the year of our Lord'.