bc
1 Americanabbreviation
-
Music. basso continuo.
-
blind copy: used as a notation on the copy of a letter or other document sent to a third person without the addressee's knowledge. Also
abbreviation
-
Scuba Diving. buoyancy compensator.
-
British Columbia, Canada (approved for postal use).
abbreviation
abbreviation
-
Bachelor of Chemistry.
-
Bachelor of Commerce.
-
bass clarinet.
-
battery commander.
-
British Columbia.
abbreviation
-
Also: B.C.. (indicating years numbered back from the supposed year of the birth of Christ) before Christ Compare AD
in 54 bc Caesar came
-
British Columbia
Usage
The abbreviation b.c. “before Christ” is always placed after a date or century: Cleopatra lived from 69 to 30 b.c. The war took place in the first century b.c. See also a.d. 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There needs to be an age limit on congressional positions bc this was so embarrassing,” one user wrote in the caption of a video posted on Friday.
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2023
“I need a friend for them tickets for Dreamville fest bc I already would have to pay to get there and hotel,” tweeted @kiara00lopez.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023
Allen said: When LT blocked him, not Sweat, he knew to stay outside bc Sweat would go inside.
From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2022
They didn't want people to see my tweets and support me more & more bc they want to control information.
From Salon • Nov. 6, 2022
A native of Leontini, a Sicilian town just up the coast from Syracuse, Gorgias was born somewhere between 480 and 490 bc and lived to the ripe old age of 109.*
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.