bce

IPA/ˌbiː.siːˈiː/
IPA/ˌbiː.siːˈiː/

bce — adverb

1. written after a year or century to show that the date falls before year 1 of the

1.副詞B1
釋義

written after a year or century to show that the date falls before year 1 of the Western calendar, whose reference point is the traditional date of Christ's birth

例句

Around 2500 BCE, the people of the Indus Valley built complex drainage systems.

BCE placed after a year, modifying an adverbial time phrase

The first Olympic games were held in 776 BCE in ancient Greece.

BCE after a year, as part of a prepositional phrase

同義詞
  • BC

    exact equivalent in meaning, but uses the explicitly Christian term 'Before Christ'

  • Before Common Era

    the full written form, used in more formal writing

反義詞
  • CE

    Common Era, used for dates after year 1

  • AD

    Anno Domini, the Christian-based equivalent for dates after year 1

文法句型

[year/century] + BCE

用法筆記

BCE stands for 'Before Common Era' and is interchangeable with BC. It is preferred in academic and non-religious contexts because it avoids the explicitly Christian reference of BC ('Before Christ'). BCE is always placed after the year number.

常見錯誤

❌The artifact is from BCE 2000.
✅The artifact is from 2000 BCE.
💡BCE follows the number, it does not come before it.
❌This happened in 500 BCE, which is different from 500 BC.
✅500 BCE and 500 BC mean the same year.
💡BCE and BC are exact equivalents; the difference is only in the name, not the date.