ad
(æd)
ad
(æd) n (Tennis) short for
advantage Brit equivalent:
van
ad
the internet domain name for (Computer Science) Andorra
AD
abbreviation for 1. (indicating years numbered from the supposed year of the birth of Christ)anno Domini:
70 ad. Compare
BC 2. (Military) military active duty
3. (Military) military air defence
4. Dame of the Order of Australia
[(sense 4) Latin: in the year of the Lord]
Usage: In strict usage, ad is only employed with specific years: he died in 1621 ad, but he died in the 17th century (and not the 17th century ad). Formerly the practice was to write ad preceding the date (ad 1621), and it is also strictly correct to omit in when ad is used, since this is already contained in the meaning of the Latin anno Domini (in the year of Our Lord), but this is no longer general practice. bc is used with both specific dates and indications of the period: Heraclitus was born about 540 bc; the battle took place in the 4th century bc
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ad1
(æd)
n. 1. an advertisement.
2. advertising: an ad agency.
[1835–45; by shortening]
ad2
(æd)
n. Tennis.[1925–30; by shortening]
ad-
a prefix occurring in verbs or verbal derivatives borrowed from Latin, where it meant “toward” and indicated direction, tendency, or addition:
adjoin. For variants before a following consonant, see
a-5,
ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an-2,
ap-1,
ar-, as-, at-. [< Latin
ad, ad- (preposition and prefix) to, toward, at, about; c.
at1]
-ad1
, 1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Greek denoting a group or unit comprising a certain number, sometimes of years: myriad; Olympiad; triad.
2. a suffix meaning “derived from,” “related to,” “associated with,” occurring in loanwords from Greek (dryad; oread) and in New Latin coinages on a Greek model (bromeliad; cycad).
3. a suffix used, on the model of Iliad, in the names of epics, speeches, etc., derived from proper names: Dunciad; jeremiad.
[< Greek -ad-, s. of -as]
-ad2
, var. of
-ade1:
ballad; salad.-ad3
, a suffix used in anatomy to form adverbs from nouns signifying parts of the body, denoting a direction toward that part: ectad.
[< Latin ad toward, anomalously suffixed to the noun]
A.D.
or AD,
1. in the year of the Lord; since Christ was born:
Charlemagne was born in a.d.742. (Latin annō Dominī]
2. assembly district.
3. athletic director.
usage: The abbreviation
a.d. was orig. placed before a date and is still usu. preferred in edited writing:
The Roman conquest of Britain began in a.d.43 (or, sometimes,
began a.d.43). The abbreviation
b.c. (before Christ) is always placed after a date:
Caesar was assassinated in 44 b.c. But by analogy with the position of
b.c.,
a.d. is frequently found after the date in all types of writing:
Claudius I lived from 10 b.c.to 54 a.d. This abbreviation may also designate centuries, being placed after the century specified:
the second century a.d. Some writers prefer to use
c.e. (Common Era) and
b.c.e. (Before the Common Era) to avoid the religious overtones of
a.d. and
b.c. Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.