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  • bc
    bc
    abbreviation
    basso continuo.
  • BC
    BC
    abbreviation
    buoyancy compensator.
  • B/C
    B/C
    bills for collection.
  • b.c.
    b.c.
    abbreviation
    before Christ (used in indicating dates).
  • B.C.
    B.C.
    abbreviation
    Bachelor of Chemistry.

bc

1 American  

abbreviation

  1. Music. basso continuo.

  2. 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


BC 2 American  

abbreviation

  1. Scuba Diving. buoyancy compensator.

  2. British Columbia, Canada (approved for postal use).


B/C 3 American  
  1. bills for collection.


b.c. 4 American  
Or B.C.

abbreviation

  1. before Christ (used in indicating dates).


B.C. 5 American  

abbreviation

  1. Bachelor of Chemistry.

  2. Bachelor of Commerce.

  3. bass clarinet.

  4. battery commander.

  5. British Columbia.


BC British  

abbreviation

  1. 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

  2. British Columbia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

“We *want* remain pass less and will continue to wear our man repellent vision helpers, mostly so we can function, but also bc of the bonus Creeper Deterrents. #jeopardy #foureyes,” another wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2024

“It's also cruel & irrelevant. Anyone who has experienced loss like that can remember images, smells, bit of conversations. The pain is burned into you. Dates blend together bc they're irrelevant.”

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2024

Ohh my fault, it was holding bc he threw the flag.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2023

“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

And thus it took over two hundred years after his death, in the fourth century bc, for his mantle to be assumed by Cicero.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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