avatarn.
/ˈavətɑː//ɑːvəˈtɑː//avəˈtɑː/ 1. Hindu Mythology. The descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > activities of god(s) > visitation or epiphany
visitationc1340
visitinga1382
epiphanya1667
avatar1789
1789 W. Jones in Asiatick Researches 1 234 The ten Avatárs, or Descents, of the deity in his capacity of preserver.
1858 H. Beveridge Comprehensive Hist. India II. iv. ii. 28 The fifth avatar, called Varuna, because in it Vishnu assumed the form of a dwarf.
2. Manifestation in human form; incarnation.
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the world > life > the body > [noun] > state or quality of having or being
manheadc1330
in (the) fleshc1384
carnalitya1400
bodilihedec1440
fleshlihoodc1440
incarnating1549
corporeity1628
incarnation1646
body-beinga1652
corporeality1651
bodyhood1674
carneity1697
corporealness1731
avatar1816
pre-incarnation1903
1816 W. Scott Paul's Lett. to Kinsfolk 446 A third avatar of this singular emanation of the Evil Principle [i.e. Bonaparte].
1878 R. Sayler in N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 94 McClellan was..the very god of war, in his latest avatar.
3. Manifestation or presentation to the world as a ruling power or object of worship.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > most important
moreOE
firstc1275
principala1393
chiefa1400
main chance1577
forefront1589
principal verb1602
centre of gravity1718
avatar1859
main stem1900
Big Apple1909
prima ballerina1923
centrepiece1937
society > communication > manifestation > [noun] > a manifestation > of divine power
show1548
avatar1859
1859 D. Masson Life Milton I. 226 The avatar of Mathematics had not begun.
1859 D. Masson Life Milton I. 447 Glad that the avatar of Donne, as an intermediate power between Spenser and Milton, was so brief and partial.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 541/1 The Baireuth festivals..the completest and most characteristic avatars of art our century can shew.
4. loosely, Manifestation; display; phase.
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society > communication > manifestation > [noun] > a manifestation
showingOE
spectacle1483
ostentationa1513
demonstration1517
objection1554
manifest1561
reflection1590
object1609
manifestation1646
avatar1850
1850 L. Hunt Autobiogr. (1860) ii. 36 She ended with enjoying, and even abetting, this new avatar of the Church militant.
1880 L. Stephen Alexander Pope ii. 29 Wit and sense are but different avatars of the same spirit.
Draft additions September 2008
Computing and Science Fiction. A graphical representation of a person or character in a computer-generated environment, esp. one which represents a user in an interactive game or other setting, and which can move about in its surroundings and interact with other characters.
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1986 RUN Aug. 24/1 Once a human being enters Habitat, he or she takes on the visual form of an Avatar, and for all intents and purposes becomes one of these new-world beings.
1992 N. Stephenson Snow Crash ix. 71 Then the avatar is gone, expertly drop-kicked out the front door.
1996 Entertainm. Weekly 3 May 80 Once you install the software and pay a $20 fee, you enter the main Palace site and are handed a generic smiley-face avatar.
2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Apr. w12/2 Teleporting—a Second Life specialty where avatars warp to different places within the world.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1789