BC
Ancient dating system
BC marks dates before the Christian era began, counting backward from the year designated as Christ's birth. 500 BC is five centuries before that reference point, and 2000 BC is fifteen centuries earlier still.
The abbreviation stands for "Before Christ" and typically follows the year number: Rome was founded in 753 BC.
The secular alternative BCE ("Before Common Era") has gained ground in academic writing.
BC also abbreviates British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province. (Lowercase bc is informal for "because.")
Pre-Christian year notation
- ADEra after BC
- A.D.Era after year one
- Common EraSecular calendar designation
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
ancient · classical · prehistory · timeline · era · epoch · century · millennium
Ancient Athenian questioning philosopher
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- HomerAncient Greek epic composer
- PythagorasAncient Greek mathematician
Archimedes · Euclid · Herodotus · Sophocles · Cicero · Virgil · Ptolemy · Alexander the Great
Apex-topped geometric solids
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
- MesopotamiaTigris-Euphrates river region
- SumeriansAncient southern Mesopotamian people
- BabyloniansAncient Mesopotamian civilization
Egyptians · Assyrians · Akkadians · Hittites · Phoenicians · Hebrews · Minoans · Mycenaeans
Canada's western coastal province
- VancouverMajor Canadian Pacific port
- VictoriaFemale monarch's name
- PacificEarth's vastest ocean
- RockiesNorth American mountain chain
coastline · wilderness · salmon · forestry · skiing · Okanagan · ferry · First Nations
Era before writing
- primordialExisting from the start
- paleolithicEarliest tool-making period
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
mastodon · saber-toothed · hunter-gatherer · flintknapping · caveman · cave paintings · stone tools · mammoth
Preventing conception intentionally
- pillSolid medicine dose
- IUDImplanted birth control device
- condomContraceptive sheath worn internally
- vasectomyMale sterilization surgery
tubal ligation · diaphragm · spermicide · implant · patch · ring · sterilization · abstinence
B.C.
Pre-Christian year notation
- ADEra after BC
- A.D.Era after year one
- Common EraSecular calendar designation
antiquity · ancient · classical · prehistory · timeline · era · epoch · century · millennium · calendar
Socrates
Ancient Athenian questioning philosopher
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- HomerAncient Greek epic composer
Pythagoras · Archimedes · Euclid · Herodotus · Sophocles · Cicero · Virgil · Ptolemy · Alexander the Great · Julius Caesar
pyramids
Apex-topped geometric solids
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
- MesopotamiaTigris-Euphrates river region
- SumeriansAncient southern Mesopotamian people
Babylonians · Egyptians · Assyrians · Akkadians · Hittites · Phoenicians · Hebrews · Minoans · Mycenaeans · Carthaginians
British Columbia
Canada's western coastal province
Rockies · coastline · wilderness · salmon · forestry · skiing · Okanagan · ferry · First Nations · temperate rainforest
prehistory
Era before writing
- primordialExisting from the start
- paleolithicEarliest tool-making period
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
megafauna · mastodon · saber-toothed · hunter-gatherer · flintknapping · caveman · cave paintings · stone tools · mammoth · ice age
birth control
Preventing conception intentionally
vasectomy · tubal ligation · diaphragm · spermicide · implant · patch · ring · sterilization · abstinence · fertility awareness
- Calendar erasAD, Anno Domini, Common Era, Meiji, Roman era
- historical dating termsAD, carbon dating, radiocarbon, dendrochronology, epoch
- Latin Abbreviationse.g., i.e., etc, et al, ibid
- chronologyannals, chronicle, timeline, period, era
- Canadian divisionsAlberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia
- College AbbreviationsUCLA, USC, MIT, LSU, OSU
- first century BC100-1 BCE
- fourth century BC399-300 BCE
- fifth century BC500-401 before Christ