Latin, anno domini , ‘in the year of the Lord’, commonly used by
Christians to indicate dates, from the supposed date of the
birth of Jesus in the year 1. The years before his birth are
designated ‘BC’, Before Christ. However, Jesus was born,
according to Matthew and Luke, while Herod was reigning, and he
died in 4 BCE. Jesus' birth is therefore reckoned to have taken
place in 4 BCE or just before, and the incorrect date is due to
imprecise calculations by a Scythian monk, Dionysius, in the 6th
cent. CE. See chronology of the new testament.