BC

See also: bc, b.c., b/c, and B.C.

English

Alternative forms

B.C., b.c., bc

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adverb

BC (not comparable)

Initialism of Before Christ.
The Han Dynasty ruled China from 206 BC to AD 220.
- [1739 [1735], Du Halde, P., “Geographical Obſervations on the Kingdom of Corea”, in The General History Of China‎, volume IV, Second edition, OCLC 51344000, page 388:
  [...]Hi vang, King of Yen and of Corea, was defeated, taken and killed in the Year 259 before the Birth of Chriſt, according to the Chineſe Hiſtory, and Tſin vang was acknowledged for Emperor of all China by the Name of Tſin chi hoang ti.]

Usage notes

The Chicago Manual of Style as well as most house styles require placing the AD before the number of the year and BC after, although in casual use either abbreviation can be found in either place.
Some use BCE, for "Before the Common Era", which is more secular in nature, to avoid potential Christian bias.
Often written in small caps.

Synonyms

BCE

Antonyms

a.d., AD, A.D. (anno Domini, Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord); CE (Christian Era, Common Era, Current Era)

Translations

before Christ

Arabic: ق. م.‎ (q. m.), قَبْلَ الْمِيلَاد‎ (qabla l-mīlād) (formally)
Armenian: մ.թ.ա. (m.tʿ.a.), Ք.ա. (Kʿ.a.)
Asturian: edC
Azerbaijani: e.ə. (eramızdan əvvəl)
Belarusian: да Н. Х. (da N. X.), да на́шай э́ры (da nášaj éry)
Bulgarian: пр. Хр. (pr. Hr.) (predi Christa)
Catalan: aC (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 公元前 (gung¹ jyun⁴ cin⁴), 主前 (zyu² cin⁴) (Christian)
Mandarin: 公元前 (zh) (gōngyuánqián), 主前 (zhǔqián) (Christian), 紀元前／纪元前 (zh) (jìyuánqián)
Danish: f.Kr. (før Kristus)
Dutch: v. Chr. (voor Christus)
Esperanto: a.K. (eo) (antaŭ Kristo)
Finnish: eKr. (fi) (ennen Kristusta / ennen Kristuksen syntymää)
French: av. J.-C. (fr), av. JC (avant Jésus-Christ), av. n. è. (fr), avant notre ère (fr)
Georgian: ძვ. წ. (ka) (ʒv. c̣.)
German: v. Chr. (de) (vor Christus, vor Christo)
Greek: π.Χ. (el) (p.Ch.) (προ Χριστού (pro Christoú))
Hebrew: לפנה״ס‎ (he)
Hindi: ई॰पू॰ (ī.pū.), ई.पू. (ī.pū.) (ईसा पूर्व (īsā pūrv))
Hungarian: Kr. e. (hu) (Krisztus előtt)
Icelandic: f.Kr. (is) (fyrir Krist)
Indonesian: SM (id) (Sebelum Masehi)
Italian: a.C. (avanti Cristo)
Japanese: 紀元前 (ja) (きげんぜん, kigenzen)
Khmer: ម.គ.ស. (mɔɔkɔɔsɑɑ), មុនគ្រិស្តសករាជ (km) (mun krɨh saʼkraac)
Korean: 기원전(紀元前) (ko) (giwonjeon)
Latin: a.C. (la) (ante Christum); [older] a.Chr.n. / a.C.n. (ante Christum natum)
Macedonian: п.н.е (p.n.e)
Malay: SM (Sebelum Masihi)
Maltese: Q.K. (Qabel Kristu)
Navajo: Doodaatsaahii tʼah bítséedi
Ngazidja Comorian: kaɓla wakati rilio nuwo (kabla wakati rilio nuwo)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: f.Kr. (no) (før Kristi fødsel)
Nynorsk: f.Kr.
Polish: przed Chr. (pl) (przed Chrystusem); [obsolete] p.n.Chr. (przed narodzeniem Chrystusa)
Portuguese: a.C. (pt), A.C. (antes de Cristo)
Romanian: î.Hr. (ro) (înainte de Hristos)
Russian: до Р. Хр. (do R. Xr.) (до Рождества́ Христо́ва), до н. э. (do n. e.), до на́шей э́ры (do nášej éry)
Spanish: a. de J.C. (antes de Jesucristo), a.C. (antes de Cristo)
Swahili: KK (kabla ya Kristo)
Swedish: f.Kr. (sv) (före Kristus)
Tagalog: U.K. (Una kay Kristo)
Turkish: MÖ (tr) (Milattan önce)
Ukrainian: до Р. Хр. (do R. Xr.) (до Різдва́ Христо́вого), до н. е. (uk) (do n. e.), до на́шої е́ри (do nášoji éry)
Urdu: قبلِ مسیح‎, قبل از مسیح‎

Proper noun

BC

British Columbia, a Canadian province.
Coordinate terms: AB, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT
Baja California, a Mexican state.
Initialism of Boston College.

Usage notes

(British Columbia): "B.C." is the customary abbreviation of British Columbia as used in case citations; see e.g. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, Nineteenth Edition (2010), "Geographical Terms: Australian states and Canadian provinces and territories", Table T10.2, page 438.

Derived terms

BCer

Noun

BC (countable and uncountable, plural BCs)

Initialism of birth control.
(chemistry) Initialism of benzalkonium chloride.
(US, navy) Initialism of battlecruiser.
(computer science) Initialism of backward compatibility.
This would be a BC-breaking change.
Initialism of border collie.

Anagrams

C.B., CB, CνB, c&b

Romanian

Proper noun

BC

Abbreviation of Bacău, a county in Romania.