Definitions of Avatar on the Web:
From the Sanscrit for the incarnation of Godhead, an avatar is the 'body' you 'wear' in a virtual community - an animated, articulated representation of a human which represents you, the user, in any virtual environment. Some of the more sophisticated chat rooms provide the facility to 'chat' over the 'net via the visual representation of interacting human forms.
www.pads.ahds.ac.uk:81/glossary.html A digital representation of a user in a virtual reality site.
www.intermark.org/im-glossary.html A graphic or pictorial representation of a user in a 3-D chat area. Usually chosen by each user, the avatar can be an animal or caricature.
www.net5.com/terms-dictionary.html An avatar is a graphical representation of a person, which you can use in some 3D style chat rooms. Each person in the chat room chooses an avatar to represent themselves.
www.geocities.com/mikemaitland/glossary.htm An image that represents a user, particularly in Chat. Back to Top
support.sbcglobal.net/general/662.shtml
an incarnation of a god or goddess
www.manilsuri.com/glossary.htm In online chat, your handle used to be the thing that distinguished you from everyone else. But as 3D chat worlds proliferate, the avatars are taking over. An avatar is a graphical representation that you select to stand in for yourself; it can look like a person, an object, or an animal. Since an avatar may look nothing like you (unless you happen to resemble a blue fish, say), you should choose one that nicely represents the way you'd like to be seen by the people you're chatting with.
www.interkan.net/Support/Misc/glossary.shtm This term refers to an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment; term was popularized by Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash."
www.kern-tech.net/glossary.htm The term "avatar" comes from Hindu mythology, and originally was the name of the temporary body that a God uses when visiting Earth. In virtual communities, an avatar is a graphical representation of a participant. Avatars may also be called "characters", "players", "residents", or "citizens".
www.kether.com/words/thesis/appendixa.html Internet &/or virtual reality An avatar, named after the Hindu Sanskrit word for a deity in a visible form, is a graphical representation of a human being on the Internet or elsewise in VR. Avatars may be either two or three dimensional. They may also be created either entirely as computer graphics, or else by mapping digital photographs of a real human being onto a virtual 3D model.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/cyber/fullglos.html A term from computer gaming for an image or figure used to represent a person.
poker.poker-uk.com/games_glossary.html
An interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment; term was popularized by Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash."
csu.colstate.edu/webdevelop/glossary.htm
(pronounced AV-uh-tar): A word adopted by computer users to denote the digital manifestation that humans take on when entering virtual worlds. The word is Sanskirt for the earthly incarnation a god takes on Earth. Vishnu, the Hindu god responsible for maintaining the existence of the universe, has 10 important avatars, including Krishna, the philosopher king, and Varaha, the boar who rescues the planet after it is inundated by the oceans. The 10th avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, will arrive in the future to destroy the world with fire and begin a new age of purity on the planet.
www.sonoma.edu/it/faq/glossary.htm —an on-the-screen representation of a real person; can be a photo, a simple human figure, a 3D widget, etc.
www.webwisdom.com/Support/resources/glossary.html A spiritual Being who descends in answer to mankind's call and need. There are human, planetary and cosmic Avatars. The latter would be called 'Divine Incarnations.' Their teaching, correctly apprehended and gradually applied by humanity, expands our understanding and presents the next step forward in mankind's evolutionary development.
www.shareintl.org/background/glossary/g_main.htm An avatar is a digital representation of a character such as in a computer game.
www.thinkworks.co.uk/support/gad.htm Avatars refer to pictures, drawings, or icons that users choose to represent themselves in a cyberspace system. Avatars offer a new opportunity for self-expression and social interaction with subtleties and complexities not seen in text-only chat rooms. Like characters in comic strips, you can communicate with others via typed text that appears in balloons that pop out from your head or body. The standard set of "avs" are designed to offer a wide range of behavioral and emotional expression. Sophisticated 3D avatars even change shape depending on what they are doing (e.g., walking, sitting, etc.). Check out a wide selection of avatars at
www.theavatarfactory.com www.netplusmarketing.com/resources_glos.cfm the descent and presence on earth of a deity in corporeal form (animal or human). See also Incarnation.
old.jccc.net/~thoare/glossary.htm
One's representation in a virtual reality. If one is Krishna, one's avatar is likely to be blue and beautiful-- but one may have many avatars for different purposes.
www.poptel.org.uk/nuj/mike/glossary.htm A graphical representation of a person in a chat room. The word comes from Hindu mythology in which spirits come down and inhabit bodies.
biznetzone.net/support/gloss.asp
A pictorial representation of a participant in a three-dimensional chat environment. The avatar is chosen by the user and may look like a bird, a fish, or some other colorful character.
home.t-online.de/home/boehmj/Glossar_A.html
[CMU, Tektronix] n. Syn. {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 disliked the term `superuser', and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at Tektronix.
www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/tech/computers/TheHackersDictionaryofComputerJargon/chap12.html An avatar is a graphic facsimile that you can use in chat rooms. Anyone who has participated in a web chat realizes that exchanging typed messages can get boring very quickly. But what if you could assume a visual identity, say a frog or a clown? An avatar lets you role play and interact with people you meet online. The term was popularized in the novel Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson.
www.voteyesfebruary22.com/company_glossary.php "1: the incarnation of a Hindu deity (as Vishnu) 2 a: an incarnation in human form b: an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person 3: a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity."
www.turning-pages.com/xf101/xf101_glossary.htm Avatar is the Incarnation of God or gods on this earth to come for some purpose. After fulfilling the purpose, the Incarnation goes away to Heaven. It is believed in Hindu Religion that Avatars do not take birth like normal birth, they just appear and disappear from the Earth.
www.geocities.com/sushmajee/hindureligion/glossary/glossary1.htm a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of cunning"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn 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"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
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