Etymology

avatar

av·a·tar
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Today it means: An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu. Full definition →

Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra) ← Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- ← Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háwa
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avatar · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranian*Háwa
  3. Sanskritअव (ava)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*terh₂-
  5. Sanskritतॄ (tṝ)
  6. Sanskritतार (tāra)
  7. Sanskritअवतार (avatāra)
  8. English todayavatar

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)). First attested in c. 1784 in The Hindu Wife or The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. The computing sense was first attested in video games in the 1980s, such as the online roleplaying game Habitat (1985) by Lucasfilm Games (today LucasArts), 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). This sense was also popularized by the novel Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson.

Avatar · proper noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranian*Háwa
  3. Sanskritअव (ava)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*terh₂-
  5. Sanskritतॄ (tṝ)
  6. Sanskritतार (tāra)
  7. Sanskritअवतार (avatāra)
  8. English todayAvatar

Borrowed from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.