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History vocabulary · Periods and Eras

AD

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˌeɪ ˈdiː/abbreviationCore term

In history, AD means: Short for the Latin 'Anno Domini' ('in the year of the Lord'): used with years of the Western calendar counted from the traditional date of Christ's birth.

In Turkish: MS, Milattan Sonra

How it is used

Traditionally written before the year (AD 476) but after a century (the 2nd century AD). It is usually left out for recent dates. Many scholars prefer the neutral CE (Common Era), which uses the same numbers and goes after the year: 476 CE.

Example sentences

  1. The Western Roman Empire is traditionally said to have ended in AD 476.

  2. Hadrian's Wall was built in the 2nd century AD.

Common collocations

  • AD 476
  • the 2nd century AD
  • BC and AD
  • BCE and CE
  • BCShort for 'before Christ': written after a year to show that it comes before the traditional starting point of the Western calendar, as in 500 BC.
  • chronologyThe order in which events happened, or a list or table that sets out events and their dates in that order.
  • centuryA period of one hundred years; in history, usually one of the numbered hundred-year blocks of the calendar, such as the sixteenth century.
  • antiquityThe ancient past, especially the age of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations before the Middle Ages; also an object surviving from that time.

More terms: Periods and Eras

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