In history, BC means: Short 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.
In Turkish: MÖ, Milattan Önce
How it is used
Written after the number: 3200 BC, the 5th century BC. Years count backwards, so 500 BC is earlier than 400 BC. Many academic texts, museums and textbooks now prefer BCE (before the Common Era), which uses the same numbers.
Example sentences
Writing first appeared in Mesopotamia around 3200 BC.
Byzantium was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in the 7th century BC.
Common collocations
the 5th century BC
around 3000 BC
BC and AD
BCE and CE
Related terms
ADShort 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.
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.
prehistoryThe long period of human history before writing was invented, known mainly through archaeology, fossils and other physical remains.
