year zero

noun — 2 senses

year zero

noun
1

Literally a non-existing (but often assumed) year in between 1 BCE/BC and 1 CE/AD

  • The new millennium only began in 2001 because there is no year zero!
2

Broadly the beginning of the Common Era/Christian Era

  • What was life in Rome like around the year zero?

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.