avatar en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈæv.ə.tɑː(ɹ)/ (Commonwealth)
- /əʋ(ə)t̪ɑr/ (South-Asia)
- (Australia) audio
- /-θɑː(ɹ)/ (Commonwealth)
- /ˌæv.əˈtɑː(ɹ)/ (Commonwealth)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈæv.ə.tɑɹ/ (Canada, US)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háwa Sanskrit अव (ava) Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- Sanskrit तॄ (tṝ) Sanskrit तार (tāra) Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra)der. English avatar Borrowed from Hindustani अवतार (avtār) / اوتار (avtār), from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”), a compound of अव (ava, “off, away, down”) and the vṛddhi-stem of the root तॄ (tṝ, “to cross”) (whence तरति (tarati)). First attested in c. 1784 in The Hindu Wife or The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. The computing sense was first attested in video games in the 1980s, such as the online roleplaying game Habitat (1985) by Lucasfilm Games (today LucasArts), later versions of the Ultima series, following religious use in Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (1985), and the pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun (1989). This sense was also popularized by the novel Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson.
Meanings
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(Hinduism) An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
Fish, Boar, Snake, Lion [footnote] The four first Avatars, or Incarnations of the Divine Spirit.
1784, Raj Lakshi Debi [William Jones, pseudonym], The Hindu Wife or The Enchanted Fruit, Calcutta, →OCLC, →OL, page 237:
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(broadly) A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. ▸ One which serves to act in place of or on behalf of the entity; a simulacrum.
Devices now track and record our every move and, whether we like it or not, each one of us will bequeath to posterity a virtual avatar, a digital being whose calls, messages, transactions, loves and losses will live on in a vast, unregulated cyberspace. The afterlife has arrived, at least for our cyberbeings.
2013 November 27, Roger Cohen, “The past in our future”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:Last year, a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after falling in love with a chatbot from Character.AI. The last thing he did was have a conversation with an AI avatar that, possibly failing to recognize the severity of the situation, reportedly encouraged him to go through with his plan to “join her”.
2025 July 16, Marcus Mendes, “Grok may be breaking App Store rules with sexualized AI chatbots, and that’s not the only problem”, in 9to5Mac:
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(broadly) A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. ▸ One which serves to act in place of or on behalf of the entity; a simulacrum. ▸ The embodiment of an idea or concept; an instantiation, especially an incarnation or personification.
...that a new avatar of Mrs. Siddons has appeared at Covent Garden, in the shape of her niece Fanny Kemble...
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 177:And honest Alan, who was a grim fire-eater in his day, has in this new avatar no more desperate purpose than to steal some young gentleman's attention from his Ovid, […]
1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Dedication”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, pages v–vi:
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(broadly) A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. ▸ One which serves as the means through which the entity interacts with its environment; a player character or host.
The people are pieces of software called avatars. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, pages 35–36:
- (broadly) A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. ▸ One which serves as the identifying token for the entity within the dimension. ▸ A graphical representation of a user or persona; used in reference to any digital environment, but especially nonmetaversal ones.
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(broadly) A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. ▸ One which serves as the identifying token for the entity within the dimension. ▸ A character model, used virtually as an emulation of a user or their persona.
A virtual intelligence is an advanced form of user interface software. VIs use a variety of methods to simulate natural conversation, including an audio interface and an avatar personality to interact with.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (science fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Computers: Virtual Intelligence (VI) Codex entry:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| avatars | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
ATLA · avvie · avvy · gravatar · avi · avatarhood · Avatard · avataric · avatarfag · brand avatar
Descendants
аватар · авата́р · アバター · авата́р · авата́р · アヴァター
Relateds
avatara · avatar on Wikiquote · Avatar
Synonyms
Translations (126)
ko 아바타 (digital representation of a person or being) · ja 天降 (earthly incarnation of a deity) · it simbolo (digital representation of a person or being) · te అవతారం (earthly incarnation of a deity) · km អវតារ (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fi avatar (personification or simulacrum) · th อวตาร (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fr incarnation (earthly incarnation of a deity) · hi अवतार (personification or simulacrum) · mr अवतार (earthly incarnation of a deity) · es avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · pa ਅਵਤਾਰ (personification or simulacrum) · kn ಅವತಾರ (earthly incarnation of a deity) · it avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · fi virtuaalihahmo (digital representation of a person or being) · hu inkarnáció (personification or simulacrum) · th บุคลาธิษฐาน (personification or simulacrum) · fi avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · ar أَفَاتَار (digital representation of a person or being) · ml അവതാരം (personification or simulacrum) · th อวตาร (digital representation of a person or being) · id avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · nl avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · hu avatára (earthly incarnation of a deity) · tr avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · cmn 頭像 /头像 (digital representation of a person or being) · fr matérialisation (personification or simulacrum) · es encarnación (earthly incarnation of a deity) · nl avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · ru авата́р (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fi hahmo (digital representation of a person or being) · uk втілення (personification or simulacrum) · pl personifikacja (personification or simulacrum) · as অৱতাৰ (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ur اَوتار (earthly incarnation of a deity) · de Verkörperung (personification or simulacrum) · ru воплоще́ние (personification or simulacrum) · th บุคคลวัต (personification or simulacrum) · id awatara (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ar أَفَاتَار (personification or simulacrum) · pl awatar (digital representation of a person or being) · fi ruumiillistuma (personification or simulacrum) · ru авата́ра (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fi avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · cs avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · mi tuatangata (digital representation of a person or being) · uk аватар (earthly incarnation of a deity) · uk аватара (earthly incarnation of a deity) · sv avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · el άβαταρ (digital representation of a person or being) · it avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · uk аватар (digital representation of a person or being) · eo avataro (digital representation of a person or being) · es personificación (personification or simulacrum) · ka განსხეულება (personification or simulacrum) · te అవతారము (earthly incarnation of a deity) · de Avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · eo avataro (earthly incarnation of a deity) · es símbolo (digital representation of a person or being) · ru воплоще́ние (earthly incarnation of a deity) · es emblema (digital representation of a person or being) · de Avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · pa ਅਵਤਾਰ (earthly incarnation of a deity) · cmn 紙娃娃 /纸娃娃 (digital representation of a person or being) · mr अवतार (personification or simulacrum) · el αβατάρα (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fr avatar (personification or simulacrum) · eo avataro (personification or simulacrum) · vi skin (digital representation of a person or being) · fr emblème (digital representation of a person or being) · uk персоніфікація (personification or simulacrum) · nl ava (digital representation of a person or being) · it incarnazione (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ja 天下り (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fi inkarnaatio (earthly incarnation of a deity) · hu megtestesülés (personification or simulacrum) · is sýndarstaðgengill í interneti (earthly incarnation of a deity) · el ενσάρκωση (personification or simulacrum) · sd اوتار (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fr photo de profil (digital representation of a person or being) · es materialización (personification or simulacrum) · fr allégorie (personification or simulacrum) · cmn 化身 (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ja アバター (digital representation of a person or being) · ja 化身 (personification or simulacrum) · ka ავატარა (earthly incarnation of a deity) · es avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · ru авата́р (digital representation of a person or being) · fi henkilöitymä (personification or simulacrum) · it emblema (digital representation of a person or being) · or ଅବତାର (earthly incarnation of a deity) · pt avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · cmn 化身 (personification or simulacrum) · pl awatara (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ja アバター (personification or simulacrum) · ml അവതാരം (earthly incarnation of a deity) · is gengill (earthly incarnation of a deity) · pt personificação (personification or simulacrum) · ta அவதாரம் (earthly incarnation of a deity) · de Inkarnation (earthly incarnation of a deity) · gu અવતાર (earthly incarnation of a deity) · id avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · nl belichaming (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ca avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · sa अवतार (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fr symbole (digital representation of a person or being) · fr avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ru авата́р (personification or simulacrum) · ka პერსონიფიკაცია (personification or simulacrum) · fr avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · th อวทาร์ (digital representation of a person or being) · de Herabkunft (earthly incarnation of a deity) · vi avatar (digital representation of a person or being) · ko 아바타 (personification or simulacrum) · pl awatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · fr personnification (personification or simulacrum) · ml അവതാർ (earthly incarnation of a deity) · nl verpersoonlijking (personification or simulacrum) · pt avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity) · bn অবতার (earthly incarnation of a deity) · de Avatara (earthly incarnation of a deity) · el αβατάρ (digital representation of a person or being) · hi अवतार (earthly incarnation of a deity) · ka ავატარი (digital representation of a person or being) · pl ucieleśnienie (personification or simulacrum) · sv avatar (digital representation of a person or being)
wikipedia: Ultima (video game series) · wikipedia: William Jones · wikipedia: Neal Stephenson · wikipedia: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar · wikipedia: Snow Crash · wikipedia: Shadowrun · wikipedia: pen and paper · wikipedia: LucasArts · wikipedia: Habitat (video game)