quadball

English

Etymology

A game of quadball.

From quad- (“four”) +‎ ball or quad +‎ ball. The sport sense was introduced in 2022 by the International Quadball Association, formerly the International Quidditch Association, with quad- chosen in reference to the number of balls and positions in the game. The IQA cited concerns over the trademarked status of Quidditch and a wish to distance itself from the "anti-trans positions" of J. K. Rowling.

Noun

quadball (countable and uncountable, plural quadballs)

1. (computer graphics, countable) A rounded cube used to approximate a sphere.
   • 2016 October 16, maapfel (username), “When elongating a quadball, is it possible to predetermine the new length?”, in Autodesk community‎^[1]:

     When elongating a quadball, is it possible to predetermine the new length? I want to make two squished quadballs, one 2 mm smaller than the other along the long axis.

   • 2017 July 21, Shyam Venugopal, “To Globe or to Quadball, that is the Question”, in The SOLIDWORKS Blog‎^[2]:

     The quadball is one of the most versatile primitives in SWID. It works great for most design scenarios. The only downside to using the quadball is the fact it appears spherical when it really is not, and is therefore visually misleading to some users.

2. (sports, uncountable, neologism) A co-ed contact ball sport created as a ground-based adaptation of Quidditch, featuring the same positions, balls, and goals as the fictional sport, but with the players clutching broomsticks and a human "snitch runner" carrying the snitch (an autonomous magical device in the Harry Potter novels).

   Synonym: Muggle quidditch

   • 2022 July 20, Adela Suliman, “Quidditch is now quadball, distancing game from J.K. Rowling, league says”, in The Washington Post:

     “This is an important moment in our sport’s history,” said Chris Lau, chair of the IQA board of trustees, in a statement. “We are confident in this step and we look forward to all the new opportunities quadball will bring.”

   • 2022 July 20, “Quidditch changes name to quadball after JK Rowling’s trans statements”, in The Guardian:

     Major League Quidditch and US Quidditch will now be known as Major League Quadball and US Quadball respectively.

   • 2022 July 20, Alex Traub, “Quidditch Becomes ‘Quadball,’ Leaving J.K. Rowling Behind”, in The New York Times:

     Quidditch, the sport of boarding school wizards riding broomsticks in “Harry Potter,” will become “Quadball” to the humans who play the game in real life, its leading organizations said on Tuesday.

   • 2023 August 24, Susan Stapleton, “Plan your weekend: This weekend offers quadball, World Food, Music Fest and more”, in Des Moines Register, page D.1.:

     Love Harry Potter? Then check out the quadball championship that combines elements of rugby, basketball and dodgeball. The MLQ Championship is the league’s signature event

Further reading

• Quadball on Wikipedia.Wikipedia