What does A.D. mean when translated?
A.D. comes from two Latin words, Anno Domini. Anno relates to annual, and Domini means Master or Lord, so the abbreviation translates as 'the year of our Lord.' This Latin phrase is not Hebrew or Greek. On the Gregorian calendar it marks the era from year zero forward, in contrast to B.C.
Les explains that many people call or write asking what A.D. stands for, and some mistakenly say 'after death.' That does not fit, because A.D. goes back to zero according to the Gregorian calendar. He puts it on the board: A.D. comes from the two Latin words Anno Domini. Anno gives us the word annual, and Domini means Master or Lord. Therefore A.D. stands for the year of our Lord, which on the Gregorian calendar is zero. From year zero backward is before Christ, and forward is the year of our Lord, or A.D. Les also notes that the nomenclatures have been changed from B.C. to B.C.E., and from the year of our Lord to the Common Era, or C.E., as an effort to remove Christ from the picture.