Specialized Vocabulary of History

A period of 10 years

• Decade

• Century

• Age

• Era

A period of 100 years

• Decade

• Century

• Age

• Era

A long period of time marked by a single event.

• Decade

• Century

• Age

• Era

A long period of time marked by great events, developments, or figures.

• Century

• Age

• Era

• Ancient

Very old, or from a long time ago.

• Decade

• Age

• Era

• Ancient

A word used to show that historians are not sure of an exact date; it means "about."

• Ancient

• Circa or c.

• BC

• BCE

Term used to identify dates that occurred before the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity; it means "Before Christ"

• Circa

• BC

• AD

• BCE

Term used to identify dates that occurred after the birth of Jesus; from a Latin phrase meaning "in the year of our Lord."

• BC

• AD

• BCE

• CE

Another way to refer to BC dates; it stands for

"before the common era."

• BC

• AD

• BCE

• CE

Another way to refer to AD dates; it stands for "common era."

• BC

• AD

• BCE

• CE