avatar
1. <chat, virtual reality> An image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality (or VR-like, in the case of
Palace) space.
2. (CMU, Tektronix) root, superuser. There are quite a
few Unix computers on which the name of the superuser
account is "avatar" rather than "root". This quirk was
originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term
"superuser", and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at
Tektronix.
[Jargon File] (1997-09-14)
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2003 Denis Howe
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avatar - n. Syn. [in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of a god]
1. Among people working on virtual reality and cyberspace interfaces, an "avatar" is an icon or representation of a user in a
shared virtual reality. The term is sometimes used on MUDs.
2.[CMU, Tektronix] root, superuser. There are quite a few Unix machines on which the name of the superuser account is `avatar'
rather than `root'. This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who
found the terms `root' and `superuser' unimaginative, and thought
`avatar' might better impress people with the responsibility they
were accepting.
Source: Jargon File 4.2.0