Common Era

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. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: "2024 CE" and "AD 2024" each describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year.^[1]^[2]

"BCE" redirects here. For other uses, see BCE (disambiguation).

The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the Latin: annus aerae nostrae vulgaris (year of our common era),^[3]^[4] and to 1635 in English as "Vulgar Era".^[a] The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708,^[5] and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars. Since the late 20th century, BCE and CE have become popular in academic and scientific publications on the grounds that BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms.^[6]^[b] They have been promoted as more sensitive to non-Christians by not referring to Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, especially via the religious terms "Christ" and Dominus ("Lord") utilized by the other abbreviations.^[7]^[8]^[c]

Rationales[edit]

Support[edit]

The use of CE in Jewish scholarship was historically motivated by the desire to avoid the implicit "Our Lord" in the abbreviation AD. Although other aspects of dating systems are based in Christian origins, AD is a direct reference to Jesus as Lord.^[65]^[66]^[67]

Proponents of the Common Era notation assert that the use of BCE/CE shows sensitivity to those who use the same year numbering system as the one that originated with and is currently used by Christians, but who are not themselves Christian.^[68]

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan^[69] has argued:

Conventions in style guides[edit]

The abbreviation BCE, just as with BC, always follows the year number. Unlike AD, which still often precedes the year number, CE always follows the year number (if context requires that it be written at all).^[78] Thus, the current year is written as 2024 in both notations (or, if further clarity is needed, as 2024 CE, or as AD 2024), and the year that Socrates died is represented as 399 BCE (the same year that is represented by 399 BC in the BC/AD notation). The abbreviations are sometimes written with small capital letters, or with periods (e.g., "B.C.E." or "C.E.").^[79] The US-based Society of Biblical Literature style guide for academic texts on religion prefers BCE/CE to BC/AD.^[80]

In , Jews in Berlin seem to have already been using words translating to "(before the) common era" in the 18th century, while others like Moses Mendelssohn opposed this usage as it would hinder the integration of Jews into German society.^[81] The formulation seems to have persisted among German Jews in the 19th century in forms like vor der gewöhnlichen Zeitrechnung (before the common chronology).^[82]^[83] In 1938 Nazi Germany the use of this convention was also prescribed by the National Socialist Teachers League.^[84] However, it was soon discovered that many German Jews had been using the convention ever since the 18th century, and Time magazine found it ironic to see "Aryans following Jewish example nearly 200 years later".^[81]

Germany

In , common forms used for "BC" are a. C. and a. de C. (for "antes de Cristo", "before Christ"), with variations in punctuation and sometimes the use of J. C. (Jesucristo) instead of C. The Real Academia Española also acknowledges the use of a. n. e. (antes de nuestra era, 'before our era') and d. n. e. (después de nuestra era, 'after our era').^[85] In scholarly writing, a. e. c. is the equivalent of the English "BCE", "antes de la era común" or "Before the Common Era".^[86]

Spanish

In , OC can be expanded to equivalents of both AD (Oed Crist) and CE (Oes Cyffredin); for dates before the Common Era, CC (traditionally, Cyn Crist) is used exclusively, as Cyn yr Oes Cyffredin would abbreviate to a mild obscenity.^[87]

Welsh

In since the October Revolution (1917) до н.э. (до нашей эры, lit. before our era) and н.э. (нашей эры, lit. of our era) are used almost universally. Within Christian churches до Р.Х./от Р.Х. (до/от Рождества Христова, i.e. before/after the birth of Christ, equivalent to Latin: Ante Christum natum) remains in use.

Russian

In , "p.n.e." (przed naszą erą, lit. before our era) and "n.e." (naszej ery, lit. of our era) are commonly used in historical and scientific literature. Przed Chrystusem (before Christ) and po Chrystusie (after Christ) see sporadic usage, mostly in religious publications.

Polish

In , upon the foundation of the Republic of China, the Government in Nanking adopted the Republic of China calendar with 1912 designated as year 1, but used the Western calendar for international purposes. The translated term was Chinese: 西元 (xī yuán, "Western Era"), which is still used in Taiwan in formal documents. In 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted 公元 (gōngyuán, "Common Era") for both internal and external affairs in mainland China. This notation was extended to Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in 1999 (de facto extended in 1966) through Annex III of Hong Kong Basic Law and Macau Basic Law, thus eliminating the ROC calendar in these areas. BC is translated into Chinese as 公元前 (gōngyuánqián, "Before the Common Era").

China

In , the "n. l." (našeho letopočtu which translates as of our year count) and "př. n. l." or "před n. l." (před naším letopočtem meaning before our year count) is used, always after the year number. The direct translation of AD (léta Páně, abbreviated as L. P.) or BC (před Kristem, abbreviated as př. Kr.) is seen as archaic.^[88]

Czech

In the common form used for BC and AD are pr. Kr. (prije Krista, "before Christ")^[89] and p. Kr. (poslije Krista, after Christ).^[90] The abbreviations pr. n. e. (prije nove ere, before new era)^[91] and n. e. (nove ere, (of the) new era)^[92] have also recently been introduced.

Croatian

In , "f.v.t." (før vor tidsregning, before our time reckoning) and "e.v.t." (efter vor tidsregning, after our time reckoning) are used as BCE/CE are in English. Also commonly used are "f.Kr." (før Kristus, before Christ) and "e.Kr." (efter Kristus, after Christ), which are both placed after the year number in contrast with BC/AD in English.

Danish

In , the terms "п.н.е." (пред нашата ера "before our era") and "н.е." (наша ера "our era") are used in every aspect.

Macedonian

In , "e.m.a." (enne meie ajaarvamist, before our time reckoning) and "m.a.j." (meie ajaarvamise järgi, according to our time reckoning) are used as BCE and CE, respectively. Also in use are terms "eKr" (enne Kristust, before Christ) and "pKr" (pärast Kristust, after Christ). In all cases, the abbreviation is written after the year number.

Estonian

In , "eaa." (ennen ajanlaskun alkua, before time reckoning) and "jaa." (jälkeen ajanlaskun alun, after the start of time reckoning) are used as BCE and CE, respectively. Also (decreasingly) in use are terms "eKr", (ennen Kristusta, before Christ) and "jKr". (jälkeen Kristuksen, after Christ). In all cases, the abbreviation is written after the year number.

Finnish

Astronomical year numbering

Before Present

Calendar

Calendar reform

Holocene Era

List of calendars

The dictionary definition of Common_Era#Translations at Wiktionary

. Awake!. Jehovah's Witnesses. 2009. Although A.D. (Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of our Lord") and B.C. (before Christ) are used in lands where professed Christianity predominates, we have chosen to use the terms C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era).