Definition of Avatar

Off-topic
1

(i’m having a manic posting day
i’m going home for the weekend soon so u’ll have your peace from me till monday
oops, i’m working 2moro morning…)

i never bothered to look up the meaning of the word ‘avatar’

this arrived as my ‘dictionary.com’ ‘word of the day’

avatar \AV-uh-tar, noun:

  1. The incarnation of a deity – chiefly associated in
    Hinduism with the incarnations of Vishnu.
  2. An embodiment, as of a quality, concept, philosophy, or
    tradition; an archetype.
  3. A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity.

says nothing about picture sigs tho

2

In the short time looking, I can’t find a good explanation with details of how this term came to be used as it is in the cyberworld, but here are a few URLs that may shed some light. The second is an extended treatise which I have not full read.

http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/a/avatar.html
http://art.bgsu.edu/~glittle/ava_text_1.html
http://hostingworks.com/support/dict.phtml?jargon=avatar

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

3

interesting reading!

thanx

4

this is a cool thread very original i never really thought about avatars like that before, the things you find out on this forum… :stuck_out_tongue: