BC

abbrev

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“BC” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #11,387 in German word frequency and used as an abbreviation.

#11,387
frequency rank, German
2
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - before Christ – vor Christus

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

BC vs be
0% similar
BC vs by
0% similar
BC vs Br
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for BC
PropertyValue
HeadwordBC
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
Letters2
Frequency rank#11,387
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “BC” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). BC lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for BC is 2 letters long, classified as an abbreviation. Corpus data places it at rank #11,387 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

BC doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "be", "by", "Br", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is BC, spelled B-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    before Christ – vor Christus
  2. 2
    British Columbia
  3. 3
    Backward Compatibility – Abwärtskompatibilität

Synonyms

A.C.ACBCE

Antonyms

A.C.A.D.ADCE

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "BC"?
"BC" is spelled B-C.
What does "BC" mean?
As an abbreviation, "BC" means: before Christ – vor Christus
What words are commonly confused with "BC"?
"BC" is commonly confused with "be", "by", "Br". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "BC" come from?
"BC" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “BC”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is B-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “be” - see the side-by-side comparison. BC vs be
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list