公元 meaning in English

gōngyuán

CE (Common Era); Christian Era

HSK 4noun8 strokes

Meaning of 公元

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

gōngyuán

CE (Common Era)
Christian Era
AD (Anno Domini)

How to use 公元

公元 is used before a year to mark it as CE, and 公元前 (gōngyuánqián) marks BCE. It is common in history books, museums and formal writing. Example: 秦朝建立于公元前221年。(Qíncháo jiànlì yú gōngyuánqián èr èr yī nián.) The Qin dynasty was founded in 221 BCE.

公 (gōng) means public or shared, and 元 (yuán) means first or beginning. 公元 is the shared starting point everyone uses to count years.

Common mistake: 公元 (gōngyuán) sounds exactly like 公园 (gōngyuán, park), so learners often write 园 by mistake. Remember that the year word uses 元, the same 元 as in 元旦 (Yuándàn, New Year's Day).

公元 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

凯kǎi尔ěr特tè人rén在zài公gōng元yuán前qián600年nián首shǒu先xiān到dào来lái。

First came the Celts in 600 B.C.

公gōng元yuán前qián七qī千qiān年nián那nà段duàn时shí间jiān发fā生shēng了le很hěn多duō重zhòng要yào的de历lì史shǐ事shì件jiàn。

Many important historical events took place 7000 years B.C.

普pǔ遍biàn认rèn为wéi佛fó教jiào公gōng元yuán六liù七qī年nián在zài东dōng汉hàn明míng帝dì的de统tǒng治zhì时shí先xiān来lái中zhōng国guó。

It is generally believed that Buddhism first came to China in 67 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

公 gōng · public · 4 strokes

元 yuán · currency unit · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 公元.

公司	gōngsī	company; firm; corporation
办公室	bàngōngshì	office; business premises
公平	gōngpíng	fair; impartial
公园	gōngyuán	park (for public recreation)
公里	gōnglǐ	kilometer
公路	gōnglù	highway; road
公斤	gōngjīn	kilogram (kg)
公交车	gōngjiāochē	public transport vehicle; town bus
公共汽车	gōnggòng qìchē	bus
美元	měiyuán	American dollar; US dollar
公开	gōngkāi	open; overt; public; to make public; to release
公民	gōngmín	citizen

Questions about 公元

What does 公元 mean?

公元 (gōngyuán) means "CE (Common Era); Christian Era" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 公元?

公元 is made of 2 characters: 公 (4 strokes), 元 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.

Is 公元 an HSK word?

Yes. 公元 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

Do I need to say 公元 every time I give a year?

No. In everyday speech people just say 2024年 (èr líng èr sì nián). 公元 is added mainly for ancient dates, formal writing, or when contrasting with 公元前.

How do I say 'the 3rd century AD' in Chinese?

You say 公元3世纪 (gōngyuán sān shìjì). For BCE, use 公元前3世纪 (gōngyuánqián sān shìjì).