Bce or b.c.e.

DEFINITION

Abbreviation for "Before the Common era." This is used alternatively to BC or B.C. Use of BCE is now preferred to BC because it avoids the overtly Christian bias inherent in BC.Also see AD or A.D., AH or A.H., and CE or C.E.Quotes: "Every scholar I know uses B.C.E. and shuns A.D." Harold Bloom, contemporary conservative scholar, Professor at Yale University, in correspondence quoted by William Safire in No Uncertain Terms, 2003, NY: Simon & Schuster, p 150. "[The D. in] A.D. [standing for] Dominus means 'lord,' and when the lord referred to is Jesus, ... a religious statement is made. Thus, 'the year of our Lord' invites the query 'Whose lord?' and we're in an argument we don't need." William Safire in No Uncertain Terms, 2003, NY: Simon & Schuster, p 152.