Lately I have come across what appears to be a Latin abbreviation, "A. O. R.," on several title pages of books from the eighteenth century. The abbreviation may have to do with the date, perhaps? Here's an image of what I'm talking about. If you know or have a thought, please share.
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According to this list of abbreviations A.O.R. stands for Anno Orbis Redempti, roughly "in the year since the world was redeemed". It seems to be one of an interesting set of obsolete synonyms to Anno Domini, including Anno Christi, Anno Post Christum Natum, Anno Salutis, Anno Salutis Reparatae, Anno Humanae Restaurationis...
TKR
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2That must be it. Excellent. And plus a billion for linking to that list. – twoblackboxes Jun 02 '20 at 17:36
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1@TKR My first guess is that the participle in Anno Orbis Redempti is dominant, right? But cf. Anno Salutis Reparatae and Anno Salutis. This reminds me of the question on how obligatory the so-called "dominant" {participle/predicate} is. Cf. https://latin.stackexchange.com/questions/9412/how-obligatory-is-the-predicate-in-a-dominant-participle-construction – Mitomino Jun 02 '20 at 18:48
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5Odd that it isn't equivalent to AD +33. – chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic- Jun 03 '20 at 03:08
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1@chrylis-cautiouslyoptimistic- I recall reading somewhere that AD 0 is used both for His birth and death, leaving those 33 years missing. If this is true, it’s somewhat ironic that the date system built around Him excludes His life! It would also explain why it’s not equivalent to AD 33. (As another aside, I think His birth is now considered closer to BC 8, not 0) – Tim Jun 03 '20 at 08:26
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2@Tim: I don’t think those years were ever missing in anyone’s version of the system, or that (once the system was established) people disagreed on the number of their current year due to this point. It’s just that people sometimes misunderstood the system, thinking that AD 0 was intended to refer to Christ’s birth or crucifixion — so most people would said “A.D. 1700 means 1700 years since Christ’s birth”, some would have said “A.D. 1700 means 1700 years since Christ’s death”, but both would have agreed that the current year was 1700 and that the year before 1 AD was 1 BC. – Peter LeFanu Lumsdaine Jun 03 '20 at 13:04
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The years certainly are not missing. Note that none of those terms unambiguously refer to the crucifixion or death of Christ. Some refer to the birth explicitly others refer to salvation, which while that might be directly attached to the crucifixion as the point which for Christians that would be accomplished, the start of his life would still be reasonably understood. Similarly, you will see as recently as 20th century the Pope use In Anno Incarnationis – eques Jun 03 '20 at 17:53
