avatar

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• South-Asia: /əʋ(ə)t̪ɑr/
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• Commonwealth: /ˌæv.əˈtɑː(ɹ)/
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• Commonwealth: /ˈæv.ə.tɑː(ɹ)/
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• Commonwealth: /-θɑː(ɹ)/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Canada, US: /ˈæv.ə.tɑɹ/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
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• CMU ARPABET: AE1 V AH0 T AA2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ew Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háwa Sanskrit अव (ava) Proto-Indo-European *terh2- Sanskrit तॄ (tṝ) Sanskrit तार (tāra) Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra)bor. English Avatar Borrowed from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra).

First use appears c. 1784, in The Hindu Wife; or, The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. Borrowed from Hindustani अवतार (avtār) / 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”) (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, 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.

126 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Assamese: অৱতাৰ (owotar) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Bengali: অবতার (obotar) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Chinese Mandarin: 化身 (huàshēn) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Dutch: belichaming — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Dutch: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Esperanto: avataro — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Finnish: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Finnish: inkarnaatio — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• French: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• French: incarnation — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Georgian: ავატარა (avaṭara) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• German: Avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• German: Avatara — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• German: Herabkunft — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• German: Inkarnation — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Greek: αβατάρα (avatára) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Gujarati: અવતાર (avatār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Hindi: अवतार (avtār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Hungarian: avatára — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Icelanfic: gengill — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Icelanfic: sýndarstaðgengill í interneti — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Indonesian: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Indonesian: awatara — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Italian: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Italian: incarnazione — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Japanese: 天降 (amakudari) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Japanese: 天下り (amakudari) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Kannada: ಅವತಾರ (avatāra) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Khmer: អវតារ (a’vea’taa) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Malayalam: അവതാരം (avatāraṁ) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Malayalam: അവതാർ (avatāṟ) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Marathi: अवतार (avtār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Odia: ଅବତାର (abatāra) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Polish: awatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Polish: awatara — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Portuguese: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Punjabi: ਅਵਤਾਰ (avatār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Russian: авата́ра (avatára) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Russian: авата́р (avatár) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Russian: воплоще́ние (voploščénije) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Sanskrit: अवतार (avatāra) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Sindhi: اوتار (otār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Spanish: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Spanish: encarnación — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Swedish: avatar — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Tamil: அவதாரம் (avatāram) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Telugu: అవతారము (avatāramu) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Telugu: అవతారం (avatāraṁ) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Thai: อวตาร (à-wá-dtaan) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Ukrainian: аватар (avatar) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Ukrainian: аватара (avatara) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Urdu: اَوتار (avtār) — earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu
• Arabic: أَفَاتَار (ʔafatār) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Chinese Mandarin: 化身 (huàshēn) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Dutch: verpersoonlijking — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Esperanto: avataro — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Finnish: ruumiillistuma — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Finnish: henkilöitymä — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Finnish: avatar — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• French: avatar — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• French: matérialisation — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• French: personnification — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• French: allégorie — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Georgian: განსხეულება (gansxeuleba) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Georgian: პერსონიფიკაცია (ṗersonipiḳacia) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• German: Verkörperung — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Greek: ενσάρκωση (ensárkosi) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Hindi: अवतार (avtār) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Hungarian: inkarnáció — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Hungarian: megtestesülés — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Japanese: 化身 (keshin) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Japanese: アバター (abatā) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Korean: 아바타 (abata) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Malayalam: അവതാരം (avatāraṁ) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Marathi: अवतार (avtār) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Polish: personifikacja — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Polish: ucieleśnienie — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Portuguese: personificação — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Punjabi: ਅਵਤਾਰ (avatār) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Russian: воплоще́ние (voploščénije) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Russian: авата́р (avatár) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Spanish: materialización — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Spanish: personificación — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Thai: บุคคลวัต — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Thai: บุคลาธิษฐาน — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Ukrainian: втілення (vtilennja) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Ukrainian: персоніфікація (personifikacija) — The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification
• Arabic: أَفَاتَار (ʔafatār) — digital representation of a person or being
• Catalan: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Chinese Mandarin: 紙娃娃 /纸娃娃 (zhǐwáwá) — digital representation of a person or being
• Chinese Mandarin: 頭像 /头像 (tóuxiàng) — digital representation of a person or being
• Czech: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Dutch: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Dutch: ava — digital representation of a person or being
• Esperanto: avataro — digital representation of a person or being
• Finnish: hahmo — digital representation of a person or being
• Finnish: virtuaalihahmo — digital representation of a person or being
• Finnish: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• French: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• French: emblème — digital representation of a person or being
• French: symbole — digital representation of a person or being
• French: photo de profil — digital representation of a person or being
• Georgian: ავატარი (avaṭari) — digital representation of a person or being
• German: Avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Greek: άβαταρ (ávatar) — digital representation of a person or being
• Greek: αβατάρ (avatár) — digital representation of a person or being
• Indonesian: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Italian: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Italian: emblema — digital representation of a person or being
• Italian: simbolo — digital representation of a person or being
• Japanese: アバター (abatā) — digital representation of a person or being
• Korean: 아바타 (abata) — digital representation of a person or being
• Māori: tuatangata — digital representation of a person or being
• Polish: awatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Portuguese: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Russian: авата́р (avatár) — digital representation of a person or being
• Spanish: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Spanish: emblema — digital representation of a person or being
• Spanish: símbolo — digital representation of a person or being
• Swedish: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Thai: อวตาร (à-wá-dtaan) — digital representation of a person or being
• Thai: อวทาร์ (à-wá-taa) — digital representation of a person or being
• Turkish: avatar — digital representation of a person or being
• Ukrainian: аватар (avatar) — digital representation of a person or being
• Vietnamese: skin — digital representation of a person or being
• Vietnamese: avatar — digital representation of a person or being