avatar
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AI In plain words
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
avatar¹
- /ˌæv.əˈtɑː(ɹ)/ Commonwealth
- /ˈæv.ə.tɑː(ɹ)/ Commonwealth
- /-θɑː(ɹ)/ Commonwealth
- /ˈæv.ə.tɑɹ/ Canada, US
- /əʋ(ə)t̪ɑr/ South Asia
Sounds like Avatar · Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
Where it comes from
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.
noun avatars
- An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu. Fish, Boar, Snake, Lion [footnote] The four first Avatars, or Incarnations of the Divine Spirit.
- One which serves to act in place of or on behalf of the entity; a simulacrum. 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”.
- 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...
- 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.
- A graphical representation of a user or persona; used in reference to any digital environment, but especially nonmetaversal ones.
- 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.
Avatar²
proper noun
- A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: incarnation, embodiment, personification, awatar, vaishnava, hayagriva, bhagwaan, aspect, vishnu, dashavatara, narayan, vehicle, devata, narasimha, deva, prajapati
Translations
Every language
noun personification or simulacrum
| Español | materialización, personificación |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 아바타 abata |
| 日本語 | 化身 keshin, アバター abatā |
| 中文 | 化身 huàshēn |
| हिन्दी | अवतार avtār |
| Português | personificação |
| Français | avatar, matérialisation, personnification, allégorie |
| Deutsch | Verkörperung |
| Ελληνικά | ενσάρκωση ensárkosi |
| Русский | воплоще́ние voploščénije, авата́р avatár |
| العربية | أَفَاتَار ʔafatār |
noun earthly incarnation of a deity
| Español | avatar, encarnación |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 天降 amakudari, 天下り amakudari |
| 中文 | 化身 huàshēn |
| हिन्दी | अवतार avtār |
| Português | avatar |
| Français | avatar, incarnation |
| Deutsch | Avatar, Avatara, Herabkunft, Inkarnation |
| Italiano | avatar, incarnazione |
| Ελληνικά | αβατάρα avatára |
| Русский | авата́ра avatára, авата́р avatár, воплоще́ние voploščénije |
noun digital representation of a person or being
| Español | avatar, emblema, símbolo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 아바타 abata |
| 日本語 | アバター abatā |
| 中文 | 紙娃娃 /纸娃娃 zhǐwáwá, 頭像 /头像 tóuxiàng |
| Português | avatar |
| Français | avatar, emblème, symbole, photo de profil |
| Deutsch | Avatar |
| Italiano | avatar, emblema, simbolo |
| Ελληνικά | άβαταρ ávatar, αβατάρ avatár |
| Русский | авата́р avatár |
| Tiếng Việt | avatar, skin |
| العربية | أَفَاتَار ʔafatār |
Talk about this word "avatar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/avatar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. avatar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/avatar "avatar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/avatar.Cite this
@misc{avatar_2026,
title = {avatar},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/avatar},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
