Ce or c.e.

DEFINITION

Abbreviation for "Common Era," equivalent to AD, which stands for "Anno Domine" ? Latin for "in the year of Our Lord." Unlike AD, but like BC and BCE, CE is conventionally placed after a number to show that it refers to a year counted as following the birth of Christ (even though contemporary experts generally agree that Christ was probably born in 3 or 4 BCE) CE is used to the same purpose as AD, and avoids a fully Christian bias. Although this system of numbering years is the globally dominant system, some cultures name years according to other schemes. Whereas 2007 is CE 2007, much of it is the year ____ in the Jewish calendar, ____ in the Islamic calendar, and the year of the ____ in the Chinese calendar, for instance.Quotes: "Every scholar I know uses B.C.E. and shuns A.D." Harold Bloom, contemporary conservative scholar, Professor at Yale University, in correspondence quoted by William Safire in No Uncertain Terms, 2003, NY: Simon & Schuster, p 150. "[The D. in] A.D. [standing for] Dominus means 'lord,' and when the lord referred to is Jesus, ... a religious statement is made. Thus, 'the year of our Lord' invites the query 'Whose lord?' and we're in an argument we don't need." William Safire in No Uncertain Terms, 2003, NY: Simon & Schuster, p 152.Also see millennium.