Definition: B.C. or BC stands for Before Christ and is a way of dating events before the year 0 on our Julian-based calendar.
B.C. means "Before Christ" in the sense that the year Jesus of Nazareth was at one time thought to have been born corresponds with the year zero, so the period before that year was before Christ. B.C. is roughly the same as B.C.E. (Before the Common Era).
When writing it out, "B.C." follows the date, as in "Julius Caesar died in 44 B.C." This is different from the opposite of B.C., A.D., which precedes the date, as in Jesus is thought to have been crucified in the year A.D. 33.
Alternate Spellings: BC
