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Glite Dictionary
Common Era

Common Era

1 4.6
The years of history starting at year one of the calendar now used in many countries
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒmən ˈɪərə/
translation icon : Era Común
  • This is probably how our ancestors felt on a clear day in the year 1054 of the Common Era.
  • centuries of the Common Era

Now, nowadays we're talking about the, you know, very early, what we now typically call the Christian era or Common era.

Examples

  • Contemporary biblical scholarship provides numerous resource tools for locating the Jewish Jesus in the first century of the Common Era.

    Academic text (2014)

  • A Semitic people, not Arab and not Kurdish, they converted to Christianity in the first century of the Common Era and still utilize Aramaic.

    Blog text (16)

  • However, in the first and second centuries of the common era, it is extremely rare.

    Blog text (33)

  • The codex was written in the 10th century of the Common Era.

    Blog text (31)

  • It was not yet realized that by the beginning of the Common Era, the East would also have become Iran's greatest source of wealth and opportunity.

    Academic text (2007)

  • By the first century of the Common Era, the Maya had honed their writing and mathematical skills, most importantly mastering the concept of "zero."

    Academic text (2004)

  • In the year 200 of the Common Era, Origen, an early church father, charged that Jews had committed the most heinous crime of all: the murder of Christ, for which they suffered the destruction of their nation.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Rabbi Hillel the Elder, who died in the year 10 of the Common Era, was famously asked whether one could state the meaning of Torah while standing on one leg.

    Blog text (31)

  • Our major professor of "freshman humanities," Dr. Robert Palmer, clearly preferred the culture of pagan antiquity to the Christianity that emerged as victorious in the third and fourth centuries of the Common Era.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Rome had an unprecedented two centuries of peace and prosperity at the start of the Common Era.

Synonyms

Christian era
vsCommon Era
1 3.0

A time starting at Jesus's birth that people use for AD or CE dates

is the secular calendar label used instead of this religious phrasing
CE
vsCommon Era
4.2

Years counted from year 1 in the calendar used today

is the secular alternative term to the same calendar era
C.E.
vsCommon Era
3.9

Used to mark years in the Common Era, like A.D

is the full nonabbreviated name preferred in secular contexts
anno Domini
vsCommon Era
8.2

To show a year is after the birth of Christ

is the same era but used as a neutral nonreligious label
AD
vsCommon Era
1.0

Put before a year to show it is after the birth of Jesus

is the secular alternative used without religious wording
A.D.
vsCommon Era
2.8

Put before a year to show the date is after Jesus's birth

is the same era name but written without punctuation in modern use

Surface Forms

Common Era singular
Common Eras plural

Morphology

common + era

The words 'common' (shared/standard) and 'era' (a period of time) do give a learner a general idea that this labels a shared or standard time period. However, the specific calendrical, secular meaning equivalent to Anno Domini (AD) is a conventionalized, cultural label that is not fully predictable from the parts, so a B1 learner would only partially infer the exact sense.

Etymology

Common Era is a simple, non-religious name for the time that begins at year one. The word Common means 'shared by everyone' and Era means a long period, so historians use it instead of 'Anno Domini' or 'AD'.