Quidditch

• quidditch

Coined by British author J. K. Rowling in her 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In Quidditch Through the Ages, Rowling gives some etymological information, hinting that the word evolved from Queerditch (compound of queer +‎ ditch), with some spelling variation as would be expected in real life Middle English, namely Kwidditch, Kweerditch.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪdɪt͡ʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Quidditch (uncountable)

2. A fictional ball game played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, using four balls and six elevated ring-shaped goals.
   • 2003, “Universal Lifts the Veil on a Harry Potter Park”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Maybe you wish your parents were smarter or funnier or richer or better looking, but you might as well wish for a spot on the local Quidditch team.

   • 2007 December 16, Ethan Todras-Whitehill, “In Tikal, Temples in the Mist”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     Turn to the south, and you see the Central Acropolis, a five-story palace where the nobles might have sat to watch plaza ceremonies or the famous Quidditch-like Mayan ball games.

   • 2007, Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007:

     Whichever team gets Yegor holds the edge. This is like Quidditch in hell.

   • 2010 May 8, Brooks Barnes, “Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me!”, in National Public Radio‎^[3]:

     Eton’s playing fields are famous, not least because of the Eton Field Game. It’s played only there. It’s sort of like Quidditch for real people.

• Golden Snitch
• quaffle

• Muggle quidditch

• Collegiate Quidditch takes off — figuratively, at least