# avatar
## English
### Alternative forms

* avatara (rare)

### Etymology

First use appears c. 1784, in The Hindu Wife; or, The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. 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 the computing sense, some use appeared in video games in the 1980s, such as the online roleplaying game Habitat (1985) by Lucasfilm Games (today LucasArts), by Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, 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). Also popularized by the novel Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson.

### Pronunciation

* (original approximation) IPA: /ˈʌvəθɑːɹ/, (Indic) IPA: /ˈəʋ(ə)t̪ɑːɾ/
* (UK) IPA: /ˌæv.əˈtɑː/, /ˈæv.ə.tɑː/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈæv.ə.tɑɹ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Hyphenation: av‧a‧tar
* Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

### Noun

avatar (plural avatars)
* (Hinduism) An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
* The embodiment of an idea or concept; an instantiation, especially a personification or incarnation.
** 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 177:...that a new avatar of Mrs. Siddons has appeared at Covent Garden, in the shape of her niece Fanny Kemble...
** 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Dedication”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, pages v–vi:And honest Alan, who was a grim fire-eater in his day, has in this new avatar no more desperate purpose than to steal some young gentleman's attention from his Ovid, […] [Contrasting the historical Alan Breac with his incarnation in the novel.]
* (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: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.
* (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 nonvirtual, nonmetaversal ones.
    Hyponyms: profile picture, pfp, user pic
    Coordinate term: icon

#### Derived terms

* avatarhood
* avataric
* avi
* avvie
* brand avatar
* gravatar

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: アバター

#### Translations
### See also

* Category:Avatar on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

### References

* 1 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “avatar”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ Morabito, Margaret. "Enter the Online World of LucasFilm." Run Aug. 1986: 24-28

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from English, from Sanskrit.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ə.βəˈtar]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ə.vəˈtar]
* IPA: (Valencia) [a.vaˈtar]

### Noun

avatar m (plural avatars)
* (religion) avatar
* (computer games) avatar

### Anagrams

* avarat, tarava

## Finnish
### Etymology

From English avatar, from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɑʋɑtɑr/, [ˈɑ̝ʋɑ̝t̪ɑ̝r]
* Rhymes: -ɑʋɑtɑr
* Hyphenation: ava‧tar

### Noun

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

#### Declension

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

* “avatar”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

## French
### Etymology

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

* IPA: /a.va.taʁ/
* Audio:(file)
* Homophone: avatars
* Hyphenation: ava‧tar

### Noun

avatar m (plural avatars)
* (Hinduism) avatar
* (computing) avatar
* (plural tantum) misadventures, incidents
    Synonyms: aléa, vicissitude, péripétie, bouleversement

### Further reading

* “avatar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Indonesian
### Etymology

From English avatar, from Hindustani अवतार / اوتار (avtār), from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”). Doublet of awatara.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Indonesian) IPA: /aˈvatar/ [aˈfa.t̪ar]
* Rhymes: -atar
* Syllabification: a‧va‧tar

### Noun

avatar (plural avatar-avatar)
* (Hinduism) avatar (the incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu)
    Synonym: awatara
* (computing) avatar (a digital representation of a person or being)

### Further reading

* “avatar” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Italian
### Alternative forms

* avatara

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English avatar.

### Noun

avatar m (invariable)
* avatar (all senses)

### Anagrams

* tarava, varata

## Portuguese
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /a.vaˈtaʁ/ [a.vaˈtah]
* (Brazil) IPA: /a.vaˈtaʁ/ [a.vaˈtah]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /a.vaˈtaɾ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /a.vaˈtaʁ/ [a.vaˈtaχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /a.vaˈtaɻ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /a.vaˈtaɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /a.vaˈtaɾ/
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /a.baˈtaɾ/ [a.βaˈtaɾ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /a.vaˈta.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

### Noun

avatar m (plural avatares)
* (Hinduism) avatar
* (computing, video games) avatar

### References

* ↑ “avatar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “avatar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French avatar.

### Noun

avatar n (plural avataruri)
* avatar

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aʋǎtaːr/
* Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

### Noun

avàtār m (Cyrillic spelling ава̀та̄р)
* avatar

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* avatara

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /abaˈtaɾ/ [a.β̞aˈt̪aɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: a‧va‧tar

### Noun

avatar m (plural avatares)
* avatar
* (in the plural) vicissitudes, ups and downs

### Further reading

* “avatar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

avatar c
* (Hinduism) an avatar
* an avatar (representing a user on an internet forum, a player in a video game, or the like)

#### Declension
### References

* avatar in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* avatar in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* avatar in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)