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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.

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

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

This is not figural: Aristotle’s works spent a couple hundred years in a cellar in what’s now western Turkey before someone dug them out in the first century bc.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith