Explain This Passage

[Pippin]

No: HPFGUIDX 180458

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "rlevatter" <rlevatter at ...> wrote:
> Defining terms:
> 
> Mudblood: a witch/wizard with two Muggle parents
> Half-blood: a witch/wizard with one Muggle and one Magic parent
> Pure-blood: a witch/wizard with two Magic parents


Pippin Fowler:
Welcome, RL!

'Mudblood' also equals 'Muggle-born'.

I'm not sure JKR ever explicitly managed to define 'half-blood' in 
canon, though it seems she landed on a WW definition that matches 
standard 'breeding' English.  A half-blood is a child who has only one 
pureblood parent.  The 'half' is confusing to some: it does not refer 
to the *degree* of blood 'purity', it only considers two options for a 
parent: pureblood or not pureblood. Think of it as the focus being on 
which, if either, parent is pureblood.  That leaves 3 choices: zero, 
one, or two; or Muggle-born, half-blood, or pureblood.

Pippin Fowler