English Dictionary: Avatar | by the DICT Development Group |
4 results for Avatar | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Avatar \Av`a*tar"\, n. [Skr. avat[83]ra descent; ava from + root t[rsdot] to cross, pass over.] 1. (Hindoo Myth.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; -- chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu. 2. Incarnation; manifestation as an object of worship or admiration. | |
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [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 (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
avatar 1. 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) |