अवतार

avatar: descent (especially of a deity from heaven), appearance of any deity upon earth (but more particularly the incarnations of Vishnu in ten principal forms, namely the fish tortoise, boar, man lion, dwarf, the two Ramas, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki)
- c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata 12
- c. 1000, Kṣemendra, Kalāvilasā 10.10.21
  
  Madanaś chala|caurāṇāṃ / strī|vacanaṃ jñāti|bhedānām
  
  krūraś caṇḍālānāṃ / †māyāvī kali|yug’|âvatārāṇām†;
  The God of love among sneaky thieves, / women’s words among dividers of kinsmen,
  
  a cruel one among chandálas, / a necromancer among those incarnated / in the age of darkness;
any new and unexpected appearance
- c. 400 CE, Kālidāsa, Raghuvaṃśa 3.36
any distinguished person in the language of respect is called an avatāra or incarnation of a deity
opportunity of catching any one
a तीर्थ (tīrtha) or sacred place
translation

Masculine a-stem declension of अवतार
Nom. sg.	अवतारः (avatāraḥ)
Gen. sg.	अवतारस्य (avatārasya)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	अवतारः (avatāraḥ)	अवतारौ (avatārau)	अवताराः (avatārāḥ)
Vocative	अवतार (avatāra)	अवतारौ (avatārau)	अवताराः (avatārāḥ)
Accusative	अवतारम् (avatāram)	अवतारौ (avatārau)	अवतारान् (avatārān)
Instrumental	अवतारेण (avatāreṇa)	अवताराभ्याम् (avatārābhyām)	अवतारैः (avatāraiḥ)
Dative	अवताराय (avatārāya)	अवताराभ्याम् (avatārābhyām)	अवतारेभ्यः (avatārebhyaḥ)
Ablative	अवतारात् (avatārāt)	अवताराभ्याम् (avatārābhyām)	अवतारेभ्यः (avatārebhyaḥ)
Genitive	अवतारस्य (avatārasya)	अवतारयोः (avatārayoḥ)	अवताराणाम् (avatārāṇām)
Locative	अवतारे (avatāre)	अवतारयोः (avatārayoḥ)	अवतारेषु (avatāreṣu)

Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1898) A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 0099

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