avatar : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: avatar	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for avatar
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
avatar n a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of cunning" Synonym(s): embodiment, incarnation, avatar 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 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. 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)