Abbreviations for eras

The abbreviations BCE (“before the common era”) and CE (“common era” or “current era”) both follow a date. These forms of reference are increasingly preferred to the overtly Christian abbreviations BC (“before Christ”), which follows a date, and AD (“anno Domini,” Latin for “in the year of the Lord”), which precedes a date.

40 BCE

40 BC

1280 CE

AD 1280

Exercise: Abbreviations