BC

Etymology
, popularized with the 1627 publication of De doctrina temporum by French theologian Denis Pétau.

Adverb

 * The Han Dynasty ruled China from 206  BC  to AD 220.
 * The Han Dynasty ruled China from 206  BC  to AD 220.

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/Current/Christian Era", which is more secular in nature, to avoid potential Christian bias.
 * Often written in small caps.

Antonyms

 * ,, (anno Domini, Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord); CE (Christian Era, Common Era, Current Era)

Translations

 * Arabic: ق. م., قَبْلَ الْمِيلَاد
 * Armenian: մ.թ.ա., Ք.ա.
 * Asturian: edC
 * Azerbaijani: e.ə.
 * Belarusian: да Н. Х., да на́шай э́ры
 * Bulgarian: пр. Хр. (predi Christa)
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Cantonese: 公元前, 主前
 * Mandarin:, 主前 ,
 * Danish: f.Kr. (før Kristus)
 * Dutch: v. Chr. (voor Christus)
 * Esperanto: (antaŭ Kristo)
 * Finnish:
 * French:, av. JC (avant Jésus-Christ), ,
 * Georgian:
 * German: (vor Christus, vor Christo)
 * Greek: (προ Χριστού)
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi: ई॰पू॰, ई.पू. (ईसा पूर्व)
 * Hungarian: (Krisztus előtt)
 * Icelandic: (fyrir Krist)
 * Indonesian: SM (Sebelum Masehi)
 * Italian: a.C. (avanti Cristo)
 * Japanese:
 * Khmer: ម.គ.ស.,
 * Korean:
 * Latin: (ante Christum); [older] a. Chr. n. / a. C. n. (ante Christum natum)
 * Macedonian: п.н.е
 * Malay: SM (Sebelum Masihi)
 * Maltese: Q.K. (Qabel Kristu)
 * Navajo: Doodaatsaahii tʼah bítséedi
 * Ngazidja Comorian: kaɓla wakati rilio nuwo
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: (før Kristi fødsel)
 * Nynorsk: f.Kr.
 * Polish: (przed Chrystusem); [obsolete] p.n.Chr. (przed narodzeniem Chrystusa)
 * Portuguese:, A.C. (antes de Cristo)
 * Romanian: (înainte de Hristos)
 * Russian: до Р. Хр. (до Рождества́ Христо́ва), до н. э., до на́шей э́ры
 * Scottish Gaelic: RC ro Chrìosda
 * Spanish: (antes de Jesucristo),, a. de C. (antes de Cristo)
 * Swahili: KK (kabla ya Kristo)
 * Swedish: (före Kristus)
 * Tagalog: U.K.
 * Telugu: క్రీ.పూ.
 * Turkish: (Milattan önce)
 * Ukrainian: до Р. Хр., , до на́шої е́ри
 * Urdu: قبلِ مسیح, قبل از مسیح

Proper noun

 * 1) British Columbia, a Canadian province.
 * 2) Baja California, a Mexican state.
 * 1) Baja California, a Mexican state.

Usage notes

 * "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.

Proper noun

 * 1)  a county in Romania.