ce

ce — adverb

1. a written mark that follows a year to show the date belongs to the period after

1.adverbB1
Definition

a written mark that follows a year to show the date belongs to the period after the traditional birth of Christ, using the calendar system now standard in most countries.

Example

The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder died in 79 CE during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

year + CE placed directly after the number

Historians date the Gupta Empire from around 320 CE to about 550 CE.

range format: [year] CE to [year] CE

Common collocations
  • in [year] CE
  • around [year] CE
  • before [year] CE
  • after [year] CE
  • between [year] CE and [year] CE
Antonyms
  • BCE

    Before Common Era; used for years before year 1 in the same calendar system

Grammar Patterns

[number] + CE

between [number] CE and [number] CE

around [number] CE

Usage Note

Unlike AD, which traditionally appears before the year (AD 1066), CE is always written after the year (1066 CE). The counterpart for dates before the Common Era is BCE (Before Common Era), also placed after the year.

Common Mistakes

The war ended in CE 476.
The war ended in 476 CE.
CE goes after the year number, not before it.
CE 500 and 600 CE are different centuries.
500 CE and 600 CE are different centuries.
Keep the placement consistent after each year.

Word family

  • BCE
    adverbB1
  • Common Era
    nounB2
  • AD
    adverbB1
  • BC
    adverbB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) are the modern, religion-neutral alternatives to AD (Anno Domini, Latin for 'in the year of the Lord') and BC (Before Christ). All four refer to the same calendar system — CE and AD count years from the same starting point, as do BCE and BC. The key difference is cultural neutrality: CE/BCE are preferred in academic and international writing because they do not reference Christianity explicitly. In terms of placement, AD traditionally goes before the year (AD 1066), while CE, BCE, and BC all come after the year (1066 CE, 1066 BCE, 1066 BC). Learners should use CE/BCE in formal essays or when writing for a global audience, and AD/BC in texts where the Christian reference is contextually natural.

CE ↗AD ↗BCEBC

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • [number] CE
  • in [number] CE
  • around [number] CE
  • before [number] CE
  • after [number] CE
  • between [number] CE and [number] CE

Etymology

LatinEnglish

CE stands for 'Common Era', first recorded in English in the 17th century as a translation of the Latin phrase 'vulgaris aerae' (vulgar meaning 'common' or 'ordinary'). The term was used by early astronomers to label years without religious reference. It gained wide academic acceptance in the 20th century as a religion-neutral alternative to AD.