アバター

Japanese

Etymology

From English avatar, ultimately from Sanskrit अवतार (ava-tāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”), a compound of अव (ava, “off, away, down”) and the vṛddhi-stem of the root तरति (tarati, “to cross”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ア​バター [áꜜbàtàà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ba̠ta̠ː]

Noun

アバター • (abatā) 

1. (computing) avatar: a user's visual representation during online communication; usually an icon

Usage notes

In contexts referring to the religious aspects of the English term avatar, the more common words to use would be 天(あま)下(くだ)り (amakudari) or 神(かみ)降(おろし) (kamioroshi).