Fast Fact - BC and AD

BC stands for “Before Christ.” It refers to years before the traditional date of the birth of Jesus Christ. For example, 500 BC means 500 years before that point.

AD stands for Anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord.” It refers to years after the birth of Jesus. For example, AD 2026 means the year 2026 after that reference point.

A couple of helpful details:

• There is no year zero — 1 BC is immediately followed by AD 1.

• AD comes before the year number (AD 1066), while BC comes after (1066 BC).

You may also see the modern, non-religious equivalents:

• BCE — Before Common Era (same as BC)

• CE — Common Era (same as AD)

The numbering stays exactly the same; only the labels change.

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model