Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Anno Domini |
Anno DominiNoun1. In the year of Our Lord; date used in reckoning dates after the supposed year Christ was born, "in AD 200". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Geography | In the year of our Lord. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Anno Domini means "[in the] year of [Our] Lord" in Latin. The name comes from Jesus Christ being referred to as "Lord" in Christianity.
The Anno Domini nomenclature for the chronological era in which we live is somewhat controversial for some people. The alternative Common Era (abbreviated C.E.) is often suggested but not universally used.
Anno Domini dating was not the initial choice of Christians in the Mediterranean world. Like all people in the Roman Empire, early Christians dated by their local system. On the pan-Mediterranean scale, that meant the regnal year of the emperor ("in the Xth year of Emperor Such-and-such") and the tax indiction cycle (15 indictions make up a tax cycle, an indicition is near a year in duration, more or less). A great many local systems were also important, such as the year since the foundation of your particular city, the regnal year of the neighboring Persian emperor, and eventually even the year of the reigning Caliph. For example, the City of Rome dated from its foundation in 753 B.C., and the date ab urbe condita, "from the foundation of the city" (abbreviated A.U.C.), shows up on occasion in records. The dating of documents in antiquity and the Middle Ages was a process with a high level of redundancy. This redundancy, in fact, allows historians to construct parallel regnal lists for many kingdoms and polities by comparing chronicles from different regions which include the same rulers.
As the Roman Empire declined, imperial regnal year dating became sloppy, but remained the norm for 400 years in Christian Church circles. The Papacy was in regular contact throughout the Middle Ages with enovys of the Byzantine world, and had a clear enough idea (sudden deaths and deposals intervening) of who was the Byzantine emperor at any one time.
The Anno Domini system was developed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (often described as a Scythian) in Rome around the middle of the 6th century, but was not widely adopted. Byzantine chroniclers like Theophanes continued to date each year in their world chronicles on a different and much more popular Judaeo-Christian basis — from the notional Creation of the World as calculated by Christian and Jewish scholars in the first 5 centuries of the Christian era. These eras, sometimes called Anno Mundi, "year of the world" (abbreviated A.M.), by modern scholars, had their own disagreements. The most popular formulation was that established by Eusebius of Caesarea, a historian at the time of Constantine I. The Latin translator Jerome had made a comparison of Eusebius with certain dates deduced from the Old Testament which helped popularize Eusebius's A.M. count in the West.
The first historian or chronicler to use A.D. as his primary dating mechanism was the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, published around 730. Bede was different from historians working in more important places in two ways: First, he was in Northumbria, outside the bounds of the later Roman Empire. Unlike the Mediterranean-focused countries of Italy, France, and Spain, his people had little knowledge of or interest in who the Roman Emperor was in any particular year.
Second, he was confronted with the problem of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and their overlapping regnal years.
He had also previously written a chronicle going back to Creation, so he had the numbers at his fingertips. He adopted A.D. dating as a way of keeping track of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and trying to bring their dates into line with the fragmentary evidence he had for imperial regnal years.
It should be noted that technically for correctness, the "A.D." should appear before the year, e.g. A.D. 2001. This is in keeping with the original Latin meaning: "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 2001". However in practice common usage places it ungrammatically at the end, which if taken literally would read "2001 in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ". Other era markings, B.C., C.E., and B.C.E. are placed after the year, e.g., 2001 C.E. They are also generally typeset in small caps.
On the continent of Europe, A.D. was first used as the dominant dating system by Charlemagne and his successors. It was this influence of the Royal Frankish court that popularized the usage and spread it east into German speaking territories. The Carolingian use of A.D. may well have had twin ideological reasons of breaking away from using the Byzantine era and defusing certain strains of apocalyptic thought.
The term "Common Era" has been in use since the late 19th century. Indeed, in its article on "Chronology", the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia uses the sentence: "Foremost among these [dating eras] is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar, or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living."
This terminology is seen by some Christians, and others, as a move by nonbelievers to make Christianity less visible. By contrast, the use of C.E. and B.C.E. is often presented by some in the academic community as a matter of sensitivity to those who are not Christians. That justification is not accepted by some Muslims, some of whom accept that the A.D. era is based on the life of an important historical figure.
Oddly, almost no one uses the meaningful and historically correct name "Gregorian Calendar" or G.C. Yet not even the Catholic Church claims that Pope Gregory's calendar starts from the birth of Jesus. Most historians agree that Jesus of Nazareth was born year 4 or 5 before the start of the year chosen as the start of the Gregorian calendar.
See also : A.CHistory of Dating in the Christian World
After the Roman Empire
The Popularization of Anno Domini
Attempts at Alternative Eras in the West
The French Revolution and the Italian Fascists each tried seriously to displace the A.D. system by dating from their own initiation–a non-royal regnal year system. (see French Revolutionary Calendar) The Italian fascists actually used the standard system along with Roman numerals denoting the number of years since the establishment of the fascist government in 1922. Therefore, 1934, for example, was Year XII. It did not replace the standard calendar in the same way the French Revolutionary Calendar did.Alternative Nomenclature for the Same Era
As a substitute for "Anno Domini", many people now use the abbreviation C.E. which is sometimes understood as meaning Common Era and sometimes as Christian Era. Correspondingly, as a substitute for "Before Christ", the abbreviation B.C.E. is used, which is understood either as Before the Common Era or Before the Christian Era. This terminology is preferred by some academics for various reasons, but probably mainly because it need not be interpreted as making religious reference.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Anno Domini."
Synonyms: Anno DominiSynonyms: A.D. (n), AD (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Time | Hereupon, thereupon, whereupon; then; anno Domini; A.D.; ante Christum; A.C.; before Christ; B.C.; anno urbis conditae; A.U.C.; anno regni; A.R.; once upon a time, one fine morning, one fine day, one day, once. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Anno Domini |
| English words defined with "anno Domini": Year of grace. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Anno Domini" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (ad, anno domini, in the year of our lord), Latin (A.D., Year of the Lord), Turkish (a.d.). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Lorenzaccio. Sarah Bernhardt, anno domini MDCCCXCVI / Mucha. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
anno domini | 46 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "anno Domini"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | viti nga lindja e krishtit. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | старост (adulthood, age, anility, anno, antiquity, old age, senility), след христа, от нашата ера. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | apr. J.-C., A.D.. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | anno domini (ad, in the year of our lord), a.d. (ad, retd.), nach christi geburt (ad), im jahre des herrn (ad, in the year of our lord). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | εν έτει σωτηρίω. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | idõszámításunk ... évében. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | sesudah masehi. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | dopo cristo (a.C., after Christ). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 西暦 (Christian Era). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | せいれき (Christian Era). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | Blein Nyn Jiarn. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | annoay ominiday христианской эры. (various references) posle hrista (a.d.), nove ere. (various references) vejez (Eld, old age), de nueva era. (various references) efter kristi födelse. (various references) milattan sonra (after christ). (various references) старість (age, anility, dilapidation, hoariness), нової ери. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-i-i-m-n-n-n-o-o" | |
-2 letters: dominion. | |
-3 letters: indamin, midnoon. | |
-4 letters: amidin, amnion, daimio, daimon, diamin, domain, domino, minion, nandin, nomina, nonman. | |
-5 letters: amido, amino, amnio, animi, anion, danio, donna, idiom, imido, imino, inion, iodin, monad, mondo, ninon, nomad, nomoi, oidia, onion. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-i-i-m-n-n-n-o-o" | |
+2 letters: denomination, nonadmission. | |
+3 letters: denominations, nonadmissions. | |
+4 letters: denominational, nondimensional. | |
+5 letters: decontamination. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 6E 6E 6F 44 6F 6D 69 6E 69 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01101110 01101110 01101111 00100000 01000100 01101111 01101101 01101001 01101110 01101001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A n n o   D o m i n i |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 006E 006E 006F 0044 006F 006D 0069 006E 0069 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)358080812388179758075 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Expressions: Internet 7. Translations: Modern 8. Anagrams | 9. Orthography 10. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
| Note to the press & webmasters - this dictionary can be linked, indexed, or referred to using the following non-English expressions: woordeboek, fjalor, معجم, قاموس, diccionariu, речник, diccionari, diksyonario, diksinario, 字典, gérlyver, slovník, ordbog, woordenboek, shimiyuc p'anca, orðabók, orðbók, dictionnaire, wurdboek, wörterbuch, λεξικό, אוצר מילים, szótár, uqausiit tukingit, dizionario, 字引 , じい, じびき, じて", ディクショナリー , じり", じしょ, '"かい, ディクショナリ , 사 , dizionari, recnik, fockleyr, dikshonario, słownik, dicionário, dicţionar, dicziunari, словарь, lolomi fefiloi, foclair, abardair, faclair, briathrachan, pukuntau, leksikon, rečnik, vocabbulariu, diccionario, sí-chazamagâma, ordbok, lexikon, พจนานุกรม, sözlük, ansiklopedik sözlük, словник, довідник, có tính chất sách vở, geirlyfr, geiriadur, for dictionary; definisie, qartësi, përcaktim, saktësi, الوضوحية في الشيء, حد, تحديد, تعريف, التحديد, الإيضاحية, яснота, сила, очертания, дефиниция, 定義 , 定义, definice, deskriptordefinition, definitie, määritelmä, définition, ορισμός, "'"ר", "'בל", meghatározás, definíció, definizione, 確定 , ディーゼル電気車 , デ'ドロ酢酸 , デフィニション , ディフィニション , ていぎ, かくてい, 의, geyrid, meenaghey, keeayllaght, baght, definishon, definição, definiţie, determinare, definire, определение, definicija, definición, definition, açıklama, belirleme, belirtme, kesinleştirme, tanım, tarif, seçiklik, tanımlama, чіткість, тлумачення, виразність, визначення, дефініція, ясність, чітка чутність, sự định rõ, sự định nghĩa, lời định nghĩa sự định, diffiniad, darnodiad, for definition; vertaling, transferim, transmetim, ترجمة من لغة أجنبية للغة الأم, ترجمة, إفتتان, транслация, огъване, превод, предаване, поддаване, тълкуване, превеждане, 翻译, překlad, oversættelse, translatie, taajuusmuutos, translaatio, traduction, oersetting, Übersetzung, μετάφραση, תור'מ ות, תר'ום, "עתק", "עתק, fordítás, traduzione, 翻訳 , へい"ういどう, やくしょ, やくしゅつ, "うどく, ほ"やく, トランスレーション , やくじゅつ, ほ"やくしょ, 번역, tradukshon, tradução, translaţie, tãlmãcire, traducere, сдвиг, трансляция, перемещение, перевод, tumačenje, traducción, översättning, tercüme, процес перекладу, переклад, пояснення, переміщення, sự dịch, sự biến th nh sự giải thích, trosiad, for translation; Albaans, Albanies, Albaniese taal, shqip, الألبانية, الألباني, албанец, албански език, албански, Albanyano, 阿"巴尼亚语, 阿爾巴尼亞人 , albánský, Albanees, albanskt, albanialainen, Albanais, Albaneesk, albaner, αλβανικόσ, Αλβανός, αλβανόσ, arbnisht, arbërisht, albán, albanskur, albanska, AlbÚinis, albanese, 알"니아, Albaneagh, albanês, arnãut, albanez, arnãuţesc, албанский, Alapania, albanski, albanac, albanés, alban, Arnavut, албанський, албанка, албанець, for Albanian; Bulgaars, Bulgaar, bulgr, البلغارية, بلغاري, Búlgaru, български, български език, българин, Bulgaryan, 保 利亚, bulharský, bulgarer, bulgarskt, bulgarialainen, Bulgaarsk, bulgare, 'ούλγαρος, bullgar, bolgár, bulgaro, 불가리아, Bulgeyragh, Bulgeyrish, Bułgar, болгарский, болгарин, bugarski jezik, bugarski, bugarka, bugarin, búlgaro, bulgar, bulgaristan ile ilgili, болгарський, người Bun-ga-ri tiếng Bun-ga-ri, for Bulgarian; Franse taal, Frans, franceze, francez, frëngjisht, frëng, frëngjishte, فرنسي, اللغة الفرنسية, الشعب الفرنسي, gall, френски език, френски, Pranses, 法國 , 法文 , 法語 , 法语, francouzština, francouzský, franskur, franskt, ranskalainen, français, Frânsk, französisch, γάλλοσ, γαλλικόσ, γαλλική γλώσσα, γαλλίδα, צרפתי, צרפתית, francia, Fraincis, francese, フレコン化 , フランス" , 仏文 , 仏 , ふつぶ", フレンチ , フランセ , ふつ, "랑스, Perancis, Ny Frangee, Mooinjey ny Frank, frances, franses, francês, francezii, francezã, franţuzesc, franţuzeşte, французский, Falani, francuski jezik, francuski, francuzi, francés, sí-Fulentji, fransk, franska, fransızca, Fransiz, fransızca ile ilgili, fransız, fransa ile ilgili, французька мова, французький, Ffrengig, isiFulentshi, for French; Duits, Duitser, Duitse taal, Germaan, gjerman, ضرب من الرقص, جرماني, المانية, الماني, اللغة الألمانية, роден, германски, немски език, немски, немец, готически, германец, 德語 , 德语, 德文 , 德國 , nìmecký, nìmec, tysker, Duitse, týskur, týskt, týskari, saksalainen, Allemand, Dútsk, Deutsche, Deutsch, "ερμανός, gjermanisht, 'רמ י, 'רמ ית, német, þjóðverji, þýskur, GearmÚnach, GearmÚinis, tedesco, ジプシー音楽 , ジャーマン , 독일, todesch, Germaanagh, Garmane, Germaanish, Carmane, aleman, Niemiec, niemiecki, alemão, alemand, neamţ, немецкий, Siamani, germanski, alemán, Tudesku, Doysri, mjeremani, mdachi, sí-Jalimáne, tysk, เยอรมัน, าษาเยอรมัน, Alman, німкеня, німецький, німець, $sisters german$ chị em ruột, $cousin german$ anh chị em con chú bác ruột, sister, Almaenwr, isiJalimane, iliJalimane, iJalimane, for German; Grieks, Griek, الإغريقي, يوناني, اللغة اليونانية, Griegu, гръцки език, гръцки, грък, Griyego, 希臘語 , 希腊语, řecký, řeètina, řek, græker, grikst, kreikkalainen, grec, Gryk, Gryksk, Gryks, grieche, ελληνικόσ, 'Ελληνας, יו ית, יו י, görög, Grikki, greco, ギリシア語 , ギリシア", 그리스, Greagish, Greagagh, grego, grèc, greacã, греческий, Eleni, grk, grčki jezik, grčki, griego, grek, Yunanli, yunanlı, yunanca, yunan, Rumca, yunanistan'a ait, rum, грек, гречанка, грецька мова, грецький, kẻ cắp b gi gặp nhau, quân bạc bịp tôi không thể hiểu được điều đó thật l kỳ phùng địch thủ, người Hy-lạp tiếng Hy-lạp kẻ bịp bợm, kẻ lừa đảo, Groegwr, for Greek; Hongaars, Hongaar, hungarez, الهنغاري, مجري, هنغاري, المجري, اللغة الهنغارية, Húngaru, унгарски език, унгарски, унгарец, Hungaryan, 匈牙利語 , 匈牙利语, maïarský, maïar, maïarština, ungarer, Hongaarse, ungarskt, unkarilainen, hongrois, Hongaarsk, ungar, Ούγγρος, "ו 'רי, magyar, ungherese, 헝가리, Ungaarish, Ungaaragh, Węgier, ongrés, ungureşte, ungur, limba maghiarã, unguresc, maghiar, limba ungarã, венгр, венгерский, mađarski, mađar, mađarski jezik, húngaro, ungrare, ชาวฮังการี, macarca, macar, угорська мова, угорка, угорський, угорець, người Hung-ga-ri tiếng Hung-ga-ri, for Hungarian; Indonesies, indonezian, الماليزي أحد أبناء ماليزيا, اللغة الأندونيسية, Indonesiu, индонезийски език, индонезийски, 印度尼西亚语, 印度尼西亞語 , indonéský, indonéština, indonésan, indoneser, Indonesisch, Indisch, Indonesiër, indonesiskt, indonesialainen, indonésien, Yndonesysk, Indonesier, Ινδονήσιος, indonéz, indonesiano, インドネシア語 , インドネシア", 인도네시아, Indoneesagh, indonésio, indonésia, индонезийский, индонезиец, Indtasisian, indonezijski, indonežanin, indonesio, indones, Indonesyo, endonezya'ya ait, endonezyalı, endonezya dili, endonezya, індонезі"ць, індонезійський, індонезійська мова, індонезійка, người In-ddô-nê-xi-a tiếng In-ddô-nê-xi-a, for Indonesian; Italianer, Italiaans, Italiaan, شخص إيطالي, اللغة الإيطالية, الإيطالي, إيطالي, Italianu, италиански език, италиански, италианец, Italyano, 意大利 , 意大利語 , 意大利语, italština, italský, ital, italiener, italienskt, italialainen, Italien, Italjaansk, italienisch, Ιταλός, italisht, איטלקי, איטלקית, olasz, Ítali, IodÚilis, italiano, 이탈리아, Iddaalish, Włoch, italianã, italienesc, italieneşte, italian, итальянский язык, итальянский, итальянец, Italia, italijanski, italijanski jezik, italijan, sí-Taliyáne, italienare, italiensk, italienska, เกี่ยวกับอิตาลี, ชาวอิตาลี, าษาอิตาลี, italyanca, italyan, італі"ць, італійська мова, італійський, італійка, for Italian; gjuha e popullsisë së ishullit men, manský, manština, manx, mann-szigeti nyelv, Gaelgagh, Yn Ghaelg, Manninish, Manninagh, язык жителей о-ва мэн, с о-ва мэн, s ostrva mana, los habitantes de la isla de man, lengua de la isla de man, de la isla de man, från ön man, man dili, man adası, менський діалект, менський, for manx; Russies, Rus, الروسية, روسي, اللغة الروسية, Rusu, руски, руски език, руснак, Rusyan, 俄語 , 俄语, 俄文 , ruština, ruský, russer, russur, russiskt, venäläinen, Russysk, Russe, russisch, Ρώσος, רוסי, orosz, rússneskur, Rússi, Rúisis, russo, ロシア語 , ロシア", 러시아, Rooshish, Rooshagh, russisk, Rosjanin, русский, Lusia, ruski jezik, ruski, ruso, sí-Rashîya, ryss, ชาวรัสเซีย, rusça, росіянка, росіянин, російська мова, російський, người Nga tiếng Nga, for Russian; 塞爾維亞克羅地亞語 , 塞"维亚-克罗地亚语, serbokroatisch, 세르보크로아티아, servo-croata, sârbo-croat, srpsko-hrvatski, srpsko-hrvatski jezik, serbokroatiska, serbokroatisk, เกี่ยวกับ าษาเซอร์เบียและโครเอเชีย, าษาหลักของชาวเซอร์เบียและโครเอเชีย, for Serbo-Croatian; Spaans, Spaanse taal, spanjoll, اللغة الأسبانية, الأسبانية, أسباني, испански език, испански, espanyoles, Espanyol, 西班牙语, 西班牙文 , 西班牙語 , španìlský, španìlština, spanskt, espanjalainen, espagnol, Spaansk, spanisch, ισπανικά, ισπανικόσ, ισπανοί, karaiñe'êmegua, ספר"ית, ספר"י, spanyol, SpÚinnis, spagnolo, スペイン語 , スパイ罪 , スペイン", スパニッシュ , 스페인, Spaainagh, Spaainish, spañó, espanhol, espanhòl, spaniolesc, spanioleşte, spaniol, испанский, Sipaniolo, španski jezik, španski, español, spanska språk, spansk, ispanyollar, ispanyolca, ispanyol, іспанська мова, іспанський, for Spanish; Sweeds, suedez, اللغة السويدية, Suecu, шведски език, шведски, швед, Swedis, 瑞典語 , 瑞典语, švédský, švédština, Zweeds, svenskt, ruotsalainen, suédois, Sweedsk, schwedisch, σουηδικόσ, σουηδικά, svéd, sænskur, Sualainnis, svedese, スウェーデン語 , スウェーデン", 스웨덴, Soolynish, Soolynagh, suèc, шведский, švedski jezik, švedski, sueco, svensk, เกี่ยวกับคน าษาและวั'นธรรมของประเทศสวีเ"น, isveççe, isveç dili, isveç, Ísveçlí, шведська мова, шведський, người Thuỵ điển tiếng Thuỵ điển, for Swedish; Turks, turk, تركي أحد أبناء تركيا, اللغة التركية, Turcu, турски, турски език, Turko, 土耳其, 土耳其語 , tureètina, turecký, turkist, turkkilainen, turque, turc, Turksk, türkisch, τούρκικοσ, טורקי, török, Yn Turkish, Turkagh, turcesc, турецкий, turski jezik, turski, turco, turkisk, türk, türkçe, турецька мова, турецький, tiếng Thổ nhĩ kỳ, for Turkish; 乌克兰, for Ukranian; |
