[av-uh-tahr, av-uh-tahr] 
| 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. |
| av·a·tar (āv'ə-tär') n.
[Sanskrit avatāraḥ, descent (of a deity from heaven), avatar : ava, down + tarati, he crosses; see terə-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
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.
avatar
1.
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)