6 Latin Abbreviations You Should Know

Latin is at the root of many of our words in English, and there are some common abbreviations we use that you may not realize also come from the Latin language.

For example, you've heard me talk about AM and PM, or “ante meridiem” and “post meridiem,” which refer to the time of day. (And note I said meridiEM, not meridiAN.) “Ante meridiem” means before the midday, and “post meridiem” means after the midday.

We've also talked about the difference between "e.g." (or "exempli gratia") which means "for example" or "for instance” and "i.e." (or "id est"), which means "that is" or "in other words." It's not uncommon to confuse the two terms, so just remember this simple mnemonic: "Example" and "e.g." start with the same letter, and "in other words" and "i.e." also start with the same letter.

So what are a few other Latin abbreviations that we use?

BC/AD or BCE/CE

Let’s start with the eras, BC and AD, or BCE and CE.

We use “BC” and “AD” in many parts of the world to show whether a time happened before or after the believed birth of Jesus Christ. It's the current date that began approximately 2,020 years ago in the Gregorian calendar.

"AD" is the abbreviation of "anno Domini," which is Latin for "in the year of the Lord." "Anno" meaning "year," which is where we also get the words "annual" and "anniversary," and "Domini," which means "the Lord." 

"AD" does not mean "after death," which is a common misconception (but is also a decent way to remember what it represents).

Surprisingly, "BC" actually doesn't mean anything in Latin, it just means "before Christ." It refers to anything that happened before AD 1.

If you want to avoid religious terms in your writing, or you're writing for an audience that doesn't use the BC/AD eras, then you can use “CE” instead. “CE” isn’t Latin either; it just means "Common Era." Similarly, you would use “BCE” to mean "Before the Common Era."

Believe it or not, the term "CE" is not new. It has been traced back to 1615 and a book by German astronomer Johannes Kepler—yes, the...

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