Avatar

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  AVATAR
       Advanced Video Attribute Terminal Assembler and Recreator (BBS)
       
       

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  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 {MUD}s. 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.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  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)