avatar

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See also: Avatar

English

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WOTD – 2 July 2010
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Attested 1784,[1] borrowed from Hindustani अवतार / 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”).

In computing use, saw some use in 1980s videos games – 1985 online role-playing game Habitat by Lucasfilm Games (today LucasArts), by Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer,[2] later versions of the Ultima series (following religious use in 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar), and 1989 pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun. Popularized by the 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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avatar (plural avatars)

  2. (Hinduism) An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
  4. The embodiment of an idea or concept; an instantiation, especially a personification or incarnation.
  6. (Internet, video games) A complex and dynamic digital representation of a person or being in the form of a digital model, used online as a simulation or emulation of a person, or as a person's online alter ego, in a virtual world, virtual chat room, or metaverse.
    • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, pages 35–36:
      The people are pieces of software called avatars. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Computers: Virtual Intelligence (VI) Codex entry:
      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.
    • 2013 November 27, Roger Cohen, “The past in our future”, in The New York Times‎[1]:
      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.
  8. (Internet, video games) A simple and static or nearly static digital representation of a person or being in the form of a small digital object, used online as a simulacrum or token of a person or that person's online alter ego, in any digital environment but especially in non-virtual, non-metaversal ones.
    Hyponyms: profile picture, user pic
    Coordinate term: icon

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Japanese: アバター

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “avatar”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Morabito, Margaret. "Enter the Online World of LucasFilm." Run Aug. 1986: 24-28

Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English, from Sanskrit.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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avatar m (plural avatars)

  1. (religion) avatar
  2. (computer games) avatar

Anagrams

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Finnish

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Etymology

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From English avatar, from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɑʋɑtɑr/, [ˈɑ̝ʋɑ̝t̪ɑ̝r]
  • Rhymes: -ɑʋɑtɑr
  • Syllabification(key): a‧va‧tar

Noun

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avatar

  1. avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu)
  2. (rare) avatar (physical embodiment of an idea or concept)
    Synonym: ruumiillistuma
  3. (rare) avatar (digital representation of a person or being)
    Synonyms: hahmo, virtuaalihahmo

Declension

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Inflection of avatar (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative avatar avatarit
genitive avatarin avatarien
partitive avataria avatareja
illative avatariin avatareihin
singular plural
nominative avatar avatarit
accusative nom. avatar avatarit
gen. avatarin
genitive avatarin avatarien
partitive avataria avatareja
inessive avatarissa avatareissa
elative avatarista avatareista
illative avatariin avatareihin
adessive avatarilla avatareilla
ablative avatarilta avatareilta
allative avatarille avatareille
essive avatarina avatareina
translative avatariksi avatareiksi
abessive avataritta avatareitta
instructive — avatarein
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of avatar (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative avatarini avatarini
accusative nom. avatarini avatarini
gen. avatarini
genitive avatarini avatarieni
partitive avatariani avatarejani
inessive avatarissani avatareissani
elative avataristani avatareistani
illative avatariini avatareihini
adessive avatarillani avatareillani
ablative avatariltani avatareiltani
allative avatarilleni avatareilleni
essive avatarinani avatareinani
translative avatarikseni avatareikseni
abessive avatarittani avatareittani
instructive — —
comitative — avatareineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative avatarisi avatarisi
accusative nom. avatarisi avatarisi
gen. avatarisi
genitive avatarisi avatariesi
partitive avatariasi avatarejasi
inessive avatarissasi avatareissasi
elative avataristasi avatareistasi
illative avatariisi avatareihisi
adessive avatarillasi avatareillasi
ablative avatariltasi avatareiltasi
allative avatarillesi avatareillesi
essive avatarinasi avatareinasi
translative avatariksesi avatareiksesi
abessive avatarittasi avatareittasi
instructive — —
comitative — avatareinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative avatarimme avatarimme
accusative nom. avatarimme avatarimme
gen. avatarimme
genitive avatarimme avatariemme
partitive avatariamme avatarejamme
inessive avatarissamme avatareissamme
elative avataristamme avatareistamme
illative avatariimme avatareihimme
adessive avatarillamme avatareillamme
ablative avatariltamme avatareiltamme
allative avatarillemme avatareillemme
essive avatarinamme avatareinamme
translative avatariksemme avatareiksemme
abessive avatarittamme avatareittamme
instructive — —
comitative — avatareinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative avatarinne avatarinne
accusative nom. avatarinne avatarinne
gen. avatarinne
genitive avatarinne avatarienne
partitive avatarianne avatarejanne
inessive avatarissanne avatareissanne
elative avataristanne avatareistanne
illative avatariinne avatareihinne
adessive avatarillanne avatareillanne
ablative avatariltanne avatareiltanne
allative avatarillenne avatareillenne
essive avatarinanne avatareinanne
translative avatariksenne avatareiksenne
abessive avatarittanne avatareittanne
instructive — —
comitative — avatareinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative avatarinsa avatarinsa
accusative nom. avatarinsa avatarinsa
gen. avatarinsa
genitive avatarinsa avatariensa
partitive avatariaan
avatariansa 		avatarejaan
avatarejansa
inessive avatarissaan
avatarissansa 		avatareissaan
avatareissansa
elative avataristaan
avataristansa 		avatareistaan
avatareistansa
illative avatariinsa avatareihinsa
adessive avatarillaan
avatarillansa 		avatareillaan
avatareillansa
ablative avatariltaan
avatariltansa 		avatareiltaan
avatareiltansa
allative avatarilleen
avatarillensa 		avatareilleen
avatareillensa
essive avatarinaan
avatarinansa 		avatareinaan
avatareinansa
translative avatarikseen
avatariksensa 		avatareikseen
avatareiksensa
abessive avatarittaan
avatarittansa 		avatareittaan
avatareittansa
instructive — —
comitative — avatareineen
avatareinensa

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From Hindustani अवतार / 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 तरति (√tṝ, “to cross”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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avatar m (plural avatars)

  1. (Hinduism) avatar
  2. (computing) avatar

Further reading

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English avatar, from Hindustani अवतार / 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 तरति (√tṝ, “to cross”). Doublet of awatara.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /avatar/
  • Hyphenation: ava‧tar

Noun

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avatar (first-person possessive avatarku, second-person possessive avatarmu, third-person possessive avatarnya)

  1. avatar,
    1. (Hinduism) the incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
      Synonym: awatara
    2. (computing) a digital representation of a person or being; often, it can take on any of various forms, as a participant chooses. e.g. 3D, animated, photo, sketch of a person or a person's alter ego, sometimes used in a virtual world or virtual chat room.

Further reading

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Italian

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Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English avatar.

Noun

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avatar m (invariable)

  1. avatar (all senses)

Anagrams

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French avatar, from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”).[1][2] The computing sense comes from English.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

Noun

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avatar m (plural avatares)

  2. (Hinduism) avatar
  4. (computing, video games) avatar

References

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  1. ^ “avatar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
  2. ^ “avatar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French avatar.

Noun

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avatar n (plural avataruri)

  1. avatar

Declension

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Declension of avatar
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) avatar avatarul (niște) avataruri avatarurile
genitive/dative (unui) avatar avatarului (unor) avataruri avatarurilor
vocative avatarule avatarurilor

Serbo-Croatian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /aʋǎtaːr/
  • Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

Noun

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avàtār m (Cyrillic spelling ава̀та̄р)

  1. avatar

Declension

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Declension of avatar
singular plural
nominative avàtār avatari
genitive avatára avatara
dative avataru avatarima
accusative avatara avatare
vocative avatare avatari
locative avataru avatarima
instrumental avatarom avatarima

Spanish

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /abaˈtaɾ/ [a.β̞aˈt̪aɾ]
  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Syllabification: a‧va‧tar

Noun

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avatar m (plural avatares)

  1. avatar
  2. (in the plural) vicissitudes, ups and downs

Further reading

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Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Noun

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avatar c

  1. (Hinduism) an avatar
  2. an avatar (representing a user on an internet forum, a player in a video game, or the like)

Declension

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Declension of avatar 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative avatar avataren avatarer avatarerna
Genitive avatars avatarens avatarers avatarernas

References

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