Is AVATAR an English word?

as far as my knowledge goes, AVATAR means incarnation of deity, as you have said. it must be a hindi or more appropriately a sanskrit word. we use it in bengali aswell. as for the second part of your discussion, i am not sure why are ppl hesitant to reveal their identities, i can speak for myself though. i donot have any scruples of any sort whatsoever. i had uploaded my snap but recently i have changed it to the previous poster because this red flower thing has become so me by now! that's it and there is no reason behind it. i have my photograph uploaded in all the sites i visit regularly. thank you PS: the pink poster you have uploaded for this thread is very cute and your snap gives an impression of reliance and honesty. thanx for being my friend.

Yes !! you r right . But it's root word is sanskrit.... And the remaining languages imbibed the word like telugu, hindi et., And finally English also imbibed it..

To be honest I had never heard the avatar before I started in here, I had to ask a friend what it was, so I have often wondered where it came from.

I did not know where the word avatar originated.. thanks for sharing your ever so vast knowledge...lol. As far as the second part of your question, I do not use my own photo, well because unless you want to see me when I was 18, then I don't have any pictures. Yes, believe it or not I have no pictures of myself. I hate the way I look in pictures and am usually the one taking the picture, therefore not IN the picture....