B.C.E.

American  

abbreviation

1. Bachelor of Chemical Engineering.

2. Bachelor of Christian Education.

3. Bachelor of Civil Engineering.

4. before (the) Common Era.

---

BCE British  

abbreviation

1. Before Common Era (used, esp by non-Christians, in numbering years _bc )

---

BCE Scientific  

1. Abbreviation for before the Common Era.

---

B.C.E. Cultural  

1. An abbreviation sometimes used in place of b.c. It means “before the Common Era.”

---

Example Sentences

Instead, they display levels of complexity and information density similar to proto-cuneiform, the earliest known writing system, which appeared around 3,000 B.C.E., tens of thousands of years later.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

The 3 centuries after 1600 B.C.E. also marked the heyday of such civilizations as the Mycenaeans in Greece, the Hittites and Babylonians in the Near East, and Egypt’s New Kingdom.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 14, 2023

The Grave Creek Mound itself was constructed by members of the mound-building Native American Adena culture, which existed from about 500 B.C.E. to 100 C.E.

From Slate • Nov. 11, 2023

The authors looked at a period of Middle Eastern history between 12,000 and 400 B.C.E. and drew from the skeletal remains of more than 3,500 individuals.

From Scientific American • Oct. 10, 2023

Strewn across the benches were old magazines: Highlights for Children, Autumn, 20 B.C.E.;

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan