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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

av·a·tar

Audio Help [av-uh-tahr, av-uh-tahr] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.

2.	an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.

3.	Computers. a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.

[Origin: 1775–85; < Skt avatāra a passing down, equiv. to ava down + -tāra a passing over

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

av·a·tar Audio Help (āv'ə-tär') Pronunciation Key
n.

The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity: occultism in its present avatar.

[Sanskrit avatāraḥ, descent (of a deity from heaven), avatar : ava, down + tarati, he crosses; see terə-² in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
avatar

1784, from Skt. avatarana "descent" (of a deity to the earth in incarnate form), from ava- "down" + base of tarati "(he) crosses over."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

avatar
noun
1.	a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of cunning" [syn: embodiment]
2.	the manifestation of a Hindu deity (especially Vishnu) in human or superhuman or animal form; "the Buddha is considered an avatar of the god Vishnu"

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
avatar [(av-uh-tahr)]

In Hinduism, a god made visibly present, especially in a human form. The Buddha is considered an avatar of the god Vishnu.

Note: By extension, an “avatar” is any new embodiment of an old idea.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

avatar
1. An image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality (or VR-like, in the case of Palace) space.
2. (CMU, Tektronix) root, superuser. There are quite a few Unix computers on which the name of the superuser account is "avatar" rather than "root". This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term "superuser", and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at Tektronix.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-09-14)