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) 3.0 (2006) [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}, {avatar}]
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 The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:
avatar
n.
[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 V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]:
AVATAR
Advanced Video Attribute Terminal Assembler and Recreator (BBS)
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