avatar : Java Glossary

1. An image used to represent the user in an electronic conversation or virtual world or a forum. They may be 2D or 3D, animated or not. Usually there are means to modify the avatar’s facial expressions and to customise and decorate the avatar to make it look more like the person it represents. Primarily used in gang rooms i.e. MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons).
2. An incarnation of the deity. By analogy, the god-like user incarnates in a simplified virtual world.
3. A breed of dog proposed by Daphne Green.

Icons used to intentify posters on forums are called avatars. Avatars can be registered centrally so you don’t have to set them up on every forum. When you do that, they are called gravatars.