B.C.

B.C., “Before Christ” in the Christian (and now generally Western) system for dating events, developed by the monk Dionysius Exiguus and based on the time he believed Christ to have been born. The year of Christ's birth is considered the year 1, and the higher the number, the earlier the event. The year 100 B.C., for instance, was the year before 99 B.C. Events in the years after the birth of Christ are designated A.D. (for the Latin Anno Domini, “in the year of our Lord”). The expressions B.C.E. (“Before the Common Era”) and C.E. (“Common Era”) are also used.