Muggle

{{short description|People without magical abilities in the Harry Potter universe}} {{about|a term in the ''Harry Potter'' series|other uses|Muggle (disambiguation)}} {{Expand Spanish|topic=cult|Muggle|date=February 2026}} {{Use British English|date=August 2011}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} In J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series, a '''Muggle''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ʌ|g|əl}}) is a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born in a magical family. Muggles can also be described as people who do not have any magical blood inside them. It differs from the term ''Squib'', which refers to a person with one or more magical parents yet without any magical power or ability, and from the term Muggle-born (or the derogatory and offensive term ''mudblood'', which is used to imply the supposed impurity of Muggle blood), which refers to a person with magical abilities but with non-magical parents. Equivalent terms used by the in-universe magic community of the United States include '''No-Maj''' and '''No-Majs''' (short for "no magic"); French equivalents are '''Non-Magiques''' and '''No-Majes.''' Other terms are '''Can't-Spells''' and '''Non-Wizards'''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/06/muggles-jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-american-term-non-wizards|title=What, no muggles? JK Rowling fans aghast at new term for non-wizards|last=Child|first=Ben|date=2015-11-06|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-05-14|archive-date=13 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213224406/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/06/muggles-jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-american-term-non-wizards|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Usage in ''Harry Potter'' == The term ''Muggle'' is sometimes used in a pejorative manner in the novels. Since ''Muggle'' refers to a person who is not a member of the magical community, Muggles are simply ordinary human beings without any magical abilities and almost always with no awareness of the existence of magic. Witches and wizards with non-magical parents are called ''Muggle-borns''. There have also been some children known to have been born to one magical and one non-magical parent. People of this mixed parentage are called ''half-bloods''; magical people with any Muggle ancestry on the one side or the other are half-bloods as well. The most prominent half-blood in the ''Harry Potter'' series is Harry Potter (character) born to Lilly and James Potter. Lily Potter (nee Evans) being the muggle-born. The most prominent Muggle-born in the ''Harry Potter'' series is Hermione Granger, who was born to Muggles of undisclosed names. Witches and wizards with all-magical heritage are called ''pure bloods''.

In the ''Harry Potter'' novels, Muggles are often portrayed as foolish, sometimes befuddled characters, who are completely oblivious to the wizarding world that exists in their midst. If, by unfortunate means, Muggles do happen to observe the working of magic, the Ministry of Magic sends Obliviators to cast Memory Charms upon them, causing them to forget the event.

Some Muggles are aware of the wizarding world. These include Muggle parents of magical children, such as Hermione Granger's parents, the Muggle Prime Minister (and predecessors), the Dursley family (Harry Potter's unsupportive non-magical and only living relatives), and the non-magical spouses of some witches and wizards.

Rowling has created the word "Muggle" from "mug", an English term for someone who is easily fooled.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/07/jk-rowling-muggles-were-joints/352860/|title=Before Harry Potter, 'Muggles' Meant Pot|author=Eric Randall|date=14 July 2011|website=The Atlantic|access-date=2 July 2022|archive-date=2 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702150019/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/07/jk-rowling-muggles-were-joints/352860/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Notable Muggles === * The Dursleys, Harry's maternal relatives with whom he lives for sixteen years * The Muggle Prime Minister * Frank Bryce, the Riddle family gardener * Jacob Kowalski, Newt Scamander's No-Maj friend * Mary Lou Barebone, leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society (or the "Second Salemers")

== Other usages == The word ''muggle'', or ''muggles'', is now used in various contexts in which its meaning is similar to the sense in which it appears in the Harry Potter book series. Generally speaking, it is used by members of a group to describe those outside the group, comparable to ''civilian'' as used by military personnel. Whereas in the books ''muggle'' is consistently capitalized, in other uses it is often predominantly lowercase.

* According to the BBC quiz show ''QI'', in the episode "Hocus Pocus", ''muggle'' was a 1930s jazz slang word for someone who uses cannabis. "Muggles" is the title of a 1928 recording by Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra. * A ''muggle'' is, according to Abbott Walter Bower, the author of the ''Scotichronicon'', "an Englishman's tail". In Alistair Moffat's book ''A History of the Borders from Early Times'', it is stated that there was a widely held 13th-century belief amongst Scots that Englishmen had tails.<ref>Alistair Moffat, ''The Borders: a history of the Borders from earliest times'', 2002, Deerpark Press, {{ISBN|9780954197902}}, pp.211-212</ref> * Ernest Bramah referred to "the artful Muggles" in a detective story published decades before the Potter books ("The Ghost at Massingham Mansions", in ''The Eyes of Max Carrados'', Doran, New York, 1924). * Muggles is the name of a female character in the children's book ''The Gammage Cup'' by Carol Kendall published in 1959 by Harcourt, Brace & World. * Published in 1982, Roald Dahl's character the Big Friendly Giant uses the word "Muggled" while describing a good dream to the other main character, Sophie - “And the whole school is then cheering like mad and shouting bravo well done, and, for ever after that, even when you is getting your sums all gungswizzled and muggled up, Mr. Figgins is always giving you ten out of ten and writing Good Work Sophie in your exercise book.” – ''The BFG''. Roald Dahl also names a family of monkeys "The Muggle-Wumps" in ''The Twits'' and other works. * ''Muggle'' was added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2003, where it is said to refer to a person who is lacking a skill.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2882000/2882895.stm |title=BBC: 'Muggle' goes into Oxford English Dictionary |date=24 March 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=5 January 2010 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519063809/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2882000/2882895.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> * ''Muggle'' is used in informal English by members of small, specialised groups, usually those that consider their activities to either be analogous to or directly involve magic (such as within hacker culture;<ref>''Jargon File'': [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/M/muggle.html muggle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008183303/http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/M/muggle.html |date=8 October 2007 }}</ref> and pagans, magicians,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Conjuring Terms - Magicpedia |url=https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Conjuring_Terms#M |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=geniimagazine.com |archive-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229214606/https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Conjuring_Terms#M |url-status=live }}</ref> Neopagans and Wiccans)<ref>Faith von Adams, "I Roomed with a Muggle", New Witch Magazine, Issue 5 (Fall 2003) pg. 34</ref> to refer to those outside the group. * ''Muggle'' (or ''geomuggle'') is used by geocachers to refer to those not involved in or aware of the sport of geocaching. A cache that has been tampered with by non-participants is said to be plundered or ''muggled''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Geocaching Glossary | publisher = Geocaching.com | url = http://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx#Geomuggle | access-date = 20 September 2007 | archive-date = 21 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220421091751/https://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx#Geomuggle | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Trademark lawsuit=== Nancy Stouffer, author of ''The Legend of Rah and the Muggles'' (1984) accused Rowling of a trademark violation for the use of the term "muggles", as well as copyright violations for some similarities to her book.<ref name="eyrie">Burden of Proof 'Harry Potter' Book Lawsuit: 'Legend of Rah and Muggles' Author Claims Trademark Violations, Burden of Proof, CNN Transcripts, 5 July 2000, https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728111829/https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm |date=28 July 2022 }}</ref> Rowling and Scholastic, her publisher, sued for declaratory judgment and won on a summary judgment motion,<ref name="eyrie"/> based on a lack of likelihood of confusion.

==See also== * Blood purity in ''Harry Potter''

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|muggle|position=left}} {{Harry Potter}} {{Authority control}} Category:Fictional story elements introduced in 1997 Category:Fictional universe of Harry Potter Category:Words originating in fiction Category:1997 neologisms