TongTong
Sign in

公元 (gōng yuán) — Common Era (CE), Anno Domini (AD)

Definition

公元 (gōngyuán) is a written/technical term for the Common Era (CE / AD) calendar system, used in dates like 公元2024年. It is a more formal, scholarly alternative to the everyday 年代 / 纪年 vocabulary for marking years.

noun
Common Era (CE)Anno Domini (AD)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 公元2024。
    gōng yuán 2024 Nián shì nóng lì lóng nián.
    The year 2024 CE is the Year of the Dragon in the lunar calendar.
  • 210。
    Zhè ge shì jiàn fā shēng zài gōng yuán qián 210 nián.
    This event took place in 210 BCE.
  • 公元。
    Rén men guǎng fàn shǐ yòng gōng yuán lái biāo zhù nián fèn.
    People widely use CE to mark years.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

公gōngcommon
元yuánera

公元 joins 公 (common) and 元 (era) to mean the common era.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 元 shows a figure with two lines for a head, one connected to the body and one above it, emphasizing the head.

Open 元 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Months & Dates

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.