BCE

See also: bce, B.C.E., BĊE, все, and всё

English

Alternative forms

• B.C.E.

Adverb

BCE (not comparable)

1. (chronology) Initialism of Before the Common Era, Before the Current Era, or Before the Christian Era.

   Socrates was tried and executed in the year 399 BCE.

   • 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Angara: History Codex entry:

     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, Mark Littmann, Fred Espenak, “Ancient Efforts to Understand”, in Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024‎^[1], Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38:

     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.

   • 2023 September 7, Alastair Gill, “The ancient civilisation that inspired US democracy”, in BBC Travel‎^[2], archived from the original on 24 September 2023:

     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.

Usage notes

Often written in small caps.

Synonyms

• BC

Antonyms

• CE

Translations

secularized form of BC — see also BC

• Albanian: para erës sonë
• Bulgarian: пр.н.е. (pr.n.e.) (преди новата ера=pred novata era)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 公元前 (zh) (gōngyuán qián)

• Cornish: KOK
• Czech: př. n. l. (cs) (před naším letopočtem)
• Danish: f.v.t. (før vor tidsregning)
• Dutch: onze jaartelling, gewone tijdrekening
• Finnish: eaa.
• French: av. n. è. (fr) (avant notre ère); AEC (fr), AÈC, av. è. c. (fr) (avant l'ère commune)
• Georgian: ჩვ. წ.-მდე (čv. c̣.-mde), ახ. წ.–მდე (ax. c̣.–mde), ჩვენს წელთაღრიცხვამდე (čvens c̣eltaɣricxvamde), ახალ წელთაღრიცხვამდე (axal c̣eltaɣricxvamde)
• German: v. u. Z. (de) (vor unserer Zeitrechnung); v. d. Z. (de) (vor der Zeitrechnung/vor der Zeitenwende)
• Greek: π.Κ.Ε. (el) (p.K.E.)
• Hungarian: i. e. (hu) (időszámításunk előtt)
• Kazakh: б. з. д. (b. z. d.) (біздің заманымызға дейін)
• Korean: 기원전 (紀元前) (ko) (giwonjeon)
• Latin: ante aer. vulg. (la), ante aer. comm. (la)
• Lithuanian: pr. m. e. (rieš mūsų erą)
• Macedonian: п.н.е. (p.n.e.) (пред нашата ера=pred nášata éra)
• Polish: p.n.e. (pl) (przed naszą erą)
• Romanian: î.e.n. (înainte de eră noastră)
• Russian: до н. э. (do n. e.), до на́шей э́ры (do nášej éry)
• Slovak: pred n. l., p.n.l. (pred naším letopočtom)
• Slovene: pr. n. št. (pred našim štetjem)
• Spanish: antes de la era común
• Swedish: f.v.t. (sv), fvt (före vår tideräkning)
• Ukrainian: до н. е. (do n. e.) (до нашої ери)
• Vietnamese: TCN (vi) (trước Công Nguyên, 𠓀公元)

Further reading

• Common Era on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• CBE, EBC, ECB

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.se.ø/

Proper noun

BCE f

1. initialism of Banque centrale européenne (“ECB, European Central Bank”)

Anagrams

• bec

Irish

Proper noun

BCE m

1. initialism of Banc Ceannais Eorpach (“ECB, European Central Bank”)

Italian

Alternative forms

• bce

Proper noun

BCE f

1. initialism of Banca Centrale Europea (“ECB, European Central Bank”)

Portuguese

Etymology

Initialism of Banco Central Europeu.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbe ˈse ˈɛ/

Proper noun

BCE m

1. ECB, European Central Bank

Spanish

Proper noun

BCE m

1. initialism of Banco Central Europeo (“ECB, European Central Bank”)