Avatar \Av`a*tar"\ ([a^]v`[.a]*t[add]r"), n. [Skr. avat[^a]ra
descent; ava from + root t[.r] to cross, pass over.]
1. (Hindu Myth.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his
incarnation as a man or an animal; -- chiefly associated
with the incarnations of Vishnu.
[1913 Webster]
2. An incarnation, embodiment or personification of a
principle, quality, or attitude; -- used of people, mostly
in a positive sense as a manifestation of a behavior or
character worthy of admiration.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Martha Stewart, the home-and-hearth avatar whose
products are now available at Kmart stores, is
making upscale design touches like 200-thread-count
cotton bed sheets something that most every American
can aspire to. --Leslie
Kaufman (N. Y.
Times, May 7,
1999).
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
avatar
n 1: a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of
hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of
cunning" [syn: embodiment, incarnation]
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"
WordNet (r) 2.0
81 Moby Thesaurus words for "avatar":
Buddha, Christophany, Jagannath, Juggernaut, Kurma, Matsya,
Narsinh, Parshuram, Rama, Satanophany, Vaman, Varah, angelophany,
apparition, appearance, appearing, arising, catabolism, catalysis,
coming, coming into being, coming-forth, consubstantiation,
disclosure, displacement, dissemination, embodiment, emergence,
epiphany, evidence, evincement, exposure, expression, forthcoming,
heterotopia, incarnation, indication, issuance, manifestation,
materialization, materializing, metabolism, metagenesis,
metamorphism, metamorphosis, metastasis, metathesis,
metempsychosis, mutant, mutated form, mutation, occurrence,
opening, permutation, pneumatophany, presentation, proof,
publication, realization, reincarnation, revelation, rise, rising,
showing, showing forth, sport, theophany, transanimation,
transfiguration, transfigurement, transformation, transformism,
translation, translocation, transmigration, transmogrification,
transmutation, transposition, transubstantiation, unfolding,
unfoldment
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
AVATAR
Advanced Video Attribute Terminal Assembler and Recreator (BBS)
Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002)
avatar n. Syn. [in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of a god] 1. Among
people working on virtual reality and cyberspace interfaces, an
"avatar" is an icon or representation of a user in a shared virtual
reality. The term is sometimes used on MUDs. 2. [CMU, Tektronix]
root, superuser. There are quite a few Unix machines on which the
name of the superuser account is `avatar' rather than `root'. This quirk
was originated by a CMU hacker who found the terms `root' and
`superuser' unimaginative, and thought `avatar' might better impress
people with the responsibility they were accepting.
Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
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.
[{Jargon File]
(1997-09-14)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
embodiment, incarnation
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