Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

ACN

English translation:

BC

Added to glossary by claude-andrew
Jul 18, 2012 12:30
11 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

ACN

French to English Science Astronomy & Space Halley's comet
What is this?? I can't find any website on Halley's comet with this number - except a host of other site quoting this verbatim:

Sa première apparition connue date de 446 **ACN**, quant à son dernier passage, il remonte à l'hiver 1986.
Proposed translations (English)
5 BC
4 BCE

Proposed translations

46 mins
Selected

BC

While Ronald's answer provides the correct date in a manner more acceptable to atheists or those of other religions, BC is nevertheless a more correct translation of ACN:

"Ante Christum Natum (du latin signifiant Avant la naissance de Jésus Christ), habituellement abrégé en A.C.N., a.C.n., a.Ch.n. ou ACN, exprime les années précédent la naissance de Jesus Christ[1]. C’est l’équivalent latin pour l'expression « av. J.-C. » (avant Jésus-Christ).

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante_Christum_Natum

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Note added at 47 mins (2012-07-18 13:18:35 GMT)
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Perhaps the question should be re-classified "Latin -> English"...

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Note added at 22 hrs (2012-07-19 11:10:41 GMT)
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While the distinction between BC and BCE might appear to be nitpicking, it could be important depending on context. While I have no idea what document you are working on or who the author is, it is conceivable that emphasis on the religious aspect of the dating system by choosing this less commonly-used form was actually deliberate.

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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2012-07-19 16:04:25 GMT)
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I see what you mean about the baffling date. See the following from Wikipedia, for example:

Prior to 1066
Observation of Halley's Comet, recorded in cuneiform on a clay tablet between 22 and 28 September 164 BCE, Babylon, Iraq. British Museum. Halley may have been recorded as early as 467 BCE but this is uncertain. A comet was recorded in ancient Greece between 468 and 466 BCE; its timing, location, duration, and associated meteor shower all suggest it was Halley.[51] According to Pliny the Elder, that same year a meteorite fell in the town of Aegospotami, in Thrace. He described it as brown in colour and the size of a wagon load.[52] Chinese chroniclers also mention a comet in that year.[53]

The first certain appearance of Halley's Comet in the historical record is a description from 240 BCE, in the Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji, which describes a comet that appeared in the east and moved north.[54] The only surviving record of the 164 BCE apparition is found on two fragmentary Babylonian tablets, now owned by the British Museum.[54]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley's_Comet
Note from asker:
It's simply an online encyclopedia of science. I had supposed they needed to cater for all persuasions and that "ACN" stood for something not attached to any religion - but apparently I'm wrong if it means "Ante Christim Natum".. I have considerable latitude in the project and would prefer to use "BCE" rather than "BC". What bothers me now is the actual year, which doesn't seem to correspond to anything I can find on internet.
Yes, that's what I found too. Maybe it's a typo for 466. Anyway, I'm going for 240 BCE, with a note to the client (there have been previous inaccuracies in other articles in the sme project).
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Colin. Strange, because all previous BC dates in the encyclopedia have been "avant JC". Different author I suppose."
8 mins

BCE

as a religious-free alternative to BC
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