Common Era (CE;Latin:aera vulgaris) is a method used to identify ayear. It means "a year in our time" (rather than a year a very long time ago). It is the system for recordingdates used almost everywhere around the world today.
CE is an alternative to theAD system used byChristians, but the numbering is the same: the year 2025 CE is equal to AD 2025 (but usually we just say "the year is 2025"). AD is anabbreviation of the Latin:anno domini,lit. 'year of the lord'. The CE method is used as an alternative to AD as not everyone is a Christian. However, the nameChristian Era (Latin:aera christiana) has the sameacronym as the name Common Era.
When writing aboutcalendars, anera isspan of dates, starting from a particular moment in time. In the case of both CE and AD, that start date is after the date of the birth ofJesus of Nazareth. Neither system uses ayear zero (0); the year before 1 CE was 1 BCE.
Before Common Era (BCE) is the system for the years "Before the Common Era". BCE uses the same numbering as BC (Before Christ). "CE" and "BCE" are placed after the year number. Thus we write "Our year is 2025 CE" or "Artaxerxes III of Persia was born in 425 BCE."
Usage of Common Era notation began about 1615 among Christians in Europe, and has been growing among non-Christians and among Christians who desire to be sensitive to non-Christians.
