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Avatar vs Archetype - What's the difference?

avatar | archetype |

As nouns the difference between avatar and archetype

is that avatar is avatar (the earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly vishnu) while archetype is archetype.

As an adjective archetype is

archetypal.

avatar

English

Alternative forms

* avatara (rare) * Avator (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • In Hinduism the incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
  • The physical embodiment of an idea or concept; a personification.
  • * 1886 , Robert Louis Stevenson, dedicatory letter to Kidnapped [contrasting the historical Alan Breac with his incarnation in the novel].
    • And honest Alan, who was a grim fire-eater in his day, has in this new avatar no more desperate purpose than to steal some young gentleman's attention from his Ovid...
  • (computing, or, gaming) A digital representation or handle of a person or being; often, it can take on any of various forms, as a participant chooses. i.e. 3D, animated, photo, sketch of a person or a person's alter ego, sometimes used in a virtual world or virtual chat room.
  • * 1992 (Neal Stephenson), (Snow Crash)
    • The people are pieces of software called avatars . They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse.
  • * '>citation

    • See also

    References

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    archetype

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated; a prototype
  • (literature) A character, story, or object that is based on a known character, story, or object.
  • An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
    • , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=“New Kid On The Block” doubles as a terrific showcase for the Sea Captain who, in the grand tradition of Simpsons supporting characters, quickly goes from being a stereotype to an archetype , from being a crusty sea-captain character to the crusty sea-captain character.}}
  • (psychology) According to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, a universal pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.

    • Usage notes

    Traditionally archetype'' refers to the model upon which something is based, but it has also come to mean an example of a personality archetype, particularly a fictional character in a story based on a well-established personality model. In this fashion, a character ''based'' on the Jesus archetype might be referred to as a "Jesus archetype". See ''eponym for a similar usage conflict.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

  • To depict as, model using or otherwise associate a subject or object with an archetype.
  • * '>citation
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