Alternative forms

• avatara (rare)

Etymology

First use appears c. 1784,^[1] in The Hindu Wife; or, The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. Borrowed from HindustaniCategory:English terms borrowed from Hindustani languages#AVATARCategory:English terms derived from Hindustani languages#AVATAR अवतार (avtār) / اوتار (avtār)Category:Urdu terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#AVATAR, from SanskritCategory:English terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR 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)).

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,^[2] 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.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /əʋ(ə)t̪ɑr/Category:English 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• (Commonwealth) IPA^(key): /ˌæv.əˈtɑː(ɹ)/, /ˈæv.ə.tɑː(ɹ)/, /-θɑː(ɹ)/Category:English 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:English 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR
• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /ˈæv.ə.tɑɹ/Category:English 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)Category:Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)#AVATARCategory:Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)/3 syllables#AVATAR
• Hyphenation: av‧a‧tar

Noun

avatar (plural avatars)Category:English lemmas#AVATARCategory:English nouns#AVATARCategory:English countable nouns#AVATARCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

2. (HinduismCategory:en:Hinduism#AVATAR) An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
4. The embodiment of an idea or concept; an instantiationCategory:English links with manual fragments#AVATAR, especially a personification or incarnationCategory:English links with manual fragments#AVATAR.
   • 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...

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

   • 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.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

6. (InternetCategory:en:Internet#AVATAR, video gamesCategory:en:Video games#AVATAR) 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

   • 2025 July 16, Marcus Mendes, “Grok may be breaking App Store rules with sexualized AI chatbots, and that’s not the only problem”, in 9 to 5 Mac‎:

     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”.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AVATAR

8. (InternetCategory:en:Internet#AVATAR, video gamesCategory:en:Video games#AVATAR) 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

See also

• Category:Avatar on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

References

Etymology

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:Catalan terms borrowed from English#AVATARCategory:Catalan terms derived from English#AVATAR, from SanskritCategory:Catalan terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ə.βəˈtar]Category:Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ə.vəˈtar]Category:Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [a.vaˈtar]Category:Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

  Category:Catalan terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

Noun

avatar m (plural avatars)Category:Catalan lemmas#AVATARCategory:Catalan nouns#AVATARCategory:Catalan countable nouns#AVATARCategory:Catalan entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Catalan masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. (religionCategory:ca:Religion#AVATAR) avatar
2. (computer gamesCategory:ca:Video games#AVATAR) avatar

Anagrams

• avarat, tarava

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Finnish terms borrowed from English#AVATARCategory:Finnish terms derived from English#AVATAR avatar, from SanskritCategory:Finnish terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR अवतार (avatāra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑʋɑtɑr/, [ˈɑ̝ʋɑ̝t̪ɑ̝r]Category:Finnish 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:Finnish terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• Rhymes: -ɑʋɑtɑrCategory:Rhymes:Finnish/ɑʋɑtɑr#AVATARCategory:Rhymes:Finnish/ɑʋɑtɑr/3 syllables#AVATAR
• Syllabification^(key): a‧va‧tar
• Hyphenation^(key): ava‧tar

Noun

avatarCategory:Finnish lemmas#AVATARCategory:Finnish nouns#AVATARCategory:Finnish entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. avatar (earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu)
2. (rareCategory:Finnish terms with rare senses#AVATAR) avatar (physical embodiment of an idea or concept)

   Synonym: ruumiillistuma

3. (rareCategory:Finnish terms with rare senses#AVATAR) avatar (digital representation of a person or being)

   Synonyms: hahmo, virtuaalihahmo

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 2 July 2023

Etymology

From HindustaniCategory:French terms derived from Hindustani languages#AVATAR अवतार / اوتار (avtār)Category:Urdu terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#AVATAR, from SanskritCategory:French terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR 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”)Category:Sanskrit terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#AVATAR.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.va.taʁ/Category:French 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:French terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#AVATAR
• Homophone: avatarsCategory:French terms with homophones#AVATAR
• Hyphenation: ava‧tar

Noun

avatar m (plural avatars)Category:French lemmas#AVATARCategory:French nouns#AVATARCategory:French countable nouns#AVATARCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:French masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. (HinduismCategory:fr:Hinduism#AVATAR) avatar
2. (computingCategory:fr:Computing#AVATAR) avatar
3. (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

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Indonesian terms borrowed from English#AVATARCategory:Indonesian terms derived from English#AVATAR avatar, from HindustaniCategory:Indonesian terms derived from Hindustani languages#AVATAR अवतार / اوتار (avtār)Category:Urdu terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#AVATAR, from SanskritCategory:Indonesian terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”). Doublet of avatara and awataraCategory:Indonesian doublets#AVATAR.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /aˈvatar/ [aˈfa.t̪ar]Category:Indonesian 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• Rhymes: -atarCategory:Rhymes:Indonesian/atar#AVATARCategory:Rhymes:Indonesian/atar/3 syllables#AVATAR
• Syllabification: a‧va‧tar

Noun

avatar (plural avatar-avatar)Category:Indonesian lemmas#AVATARCategory:Indonesian nouns#AVATARCategory:Indonesian entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. (HinduismCategory:id:Hinduism#AVATAR) avatar (the incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu)

   Synonym: awatara

2. (computingCategory:id:Computing#AVATAR) avatar (a digital representation of a person or being)

Further reading

• “avatar”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Alternative forms

• avatara

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Italian terms borrowed from English#AVATARCategory:Italian unadapted borrowings from English#AVATARCategory:Italian terms derived from English#AVATAR avatar.

Noun

avatar m (invariable)Category:Italian lemmas#AVATARCategory:Italian nouns#AVATARCategory:Italian countable nouns#AVATARCategory:Italian indeclinable nouns#AVATARCategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Italian masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. avatar (all senses)

Anagrams

• tarava, varata

Etymology

Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from French#AVATARCategory:Portuguese terms derived from French#AVATAR avatar, from SanskritCategory:Portuguese terms derived from Sanskrit#AVATAR अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”).^[1][2] The computing sense comes from EnglishCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from English#AVATARCategory:Portuguese terms derived from English#AVATAR.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

Noun

avatar m (plural avatares)Category:Portuguese lemmas#AVATARCategory:Portuguese nouns#AVATARCategory:Portuguese countable nouns#AVATARCategory:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Portuguese masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

2. (HinduismCategory:pt:Hinduism#AVATAR) avatar
4. (computingCategory:pt:Computing#AVATAR, video gamesCategory:pt:Video games#AVATAR) avatar

References

Further reading

• “avatar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Etymology

Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Romanian terms borrowed from French#AVATARCategory:Romanian terms derived from French#AVATAR avatar.

Noun

avatar n (plural avataruri)Category:Romanian lemmas#AVATARCategory:Romanian nouns#AVATARCategory:Romanian countable nouns#AVATARCategory:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Romanian neuter nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. avatar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʋǎtaːr/Category:Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• Hyphenation: a‧va‧tar

Noun

avàtār m anim (Cyrillic spelling ава̀та̄р)Category:Serbo-Croatian lemmas#AVATARCategory:Serbo-Croatian nouns#AVATARCategory:Serbo-Croatian masculine animate nouns#AVATARCategory:Serbo-Croatian entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Serbo-Croatian animate nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. avatar

Alternative forms

• avatara

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abaˈtaɾ/ [a.β̞aˈt̪aɾ]Category:Spanish 3-syllable words#AVATARCategory:Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation#AVATAR
• Rhymes: -aɾCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/aɾ#AVATARCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/aɾ/3 syllables#AVATAR
• Syllabification: a‧va‧tar

Noun

avatar m (plural avatares)Category:Spanish lemmas#AVATARCategory:Spanish nouns#AVATARCategory:Spanish countable nouns#AVATARCategory:Spanish entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Spanish masculine nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. avatar
2. (in the plural) vicissitudes, ups and downs

   Synonyms: vicisitudes, altibajos

Further reading

• “avatar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Noun

avatar cCategory:Swedish lemmas#AVATARCategory:Swedish nouns#AVATARCategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#AVATARCategory:Swedish common-gender nouns#AVATARCategory:Pages with entries#AVATARCategory:Pages with 11 entries#AVATAR

1. (HinduismCategory:sv:Hinduism#AVATAR) an avatar
2. an avatar (representing a user on an internet forum, a player in a video game, or the like)

References

• “avatar”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “avatar”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “avatar”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)