There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life. And one of these is the history of political power. This is elevated into the history of the world. But this, I hold, is an offence against every decent conception of mankind. It is hardly better than to treat the history of embezzlement or of robbery or of poisoning as the history of mankind. For the history of power politics is nothing but the history of international crime and mass murder (including it is true, some of the attempts to suppress them). This history is taught in schools, and some of the greatest criminals are extolled as heroes.

— Karl Popper

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_28%2C_2026

no man's land n 🔊

1. (military) The ground between trenches where a soldier from either side would be easily targeted.
2. (nautical) A space amidships used to keep blocks, ropes, etc.; a space on a ship belonging to no one in particular for which to care.
3. The part of a prison, hospital complex, etc. where individuals are not normally allowed to enter.
4. (figurative) A place where no one can or should be present.
5. (tennis) The area between the backcourt and the space close to the net, from which it is difficult to return the ball.
6. (cricket) An area of the field where a fielder cannot save a single, nor stop a boundary.
7. (politics, geography) Territory that is often disputed, and that cannot be inhabited because of fear of conflict, especially:
   1. (historical) Tracts of uninhabited territory close to the Iron Curtain.
   2. The stretch of land between the border posts of two contiguous sovereign states, sometimes separated by great distance.
   3. Land that is not claimed by any recognized sovereign state; a terra nullius.
8. (medicine, anatomy) The fibrous sheath of the flexor tendons of the hand, specifically in the zone from the distal palmar crease to the proximal interphalangeal joint.

☞ World War I started on this day in 1914.

Aerial view Loos-Hulluch trench system July 1917.jpg

An aerial photograph showing opposing trenches and no man's land (sense 1) between Loos and Hulluch in France during World War I

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_28

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ergaki,_Buiba_Valley,_Western_Sayan_Mountains,_Krasnoyarsk_Krai,_Russia.jpg

Description:

View of Buiba Valley in Ergaki Range. Metamorphic schists and granites of ancient glaciation in mountain tundra. Western Sayan Mountains, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.

Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game.

— Gary Gygax

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_27%2C_2026

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haigerloch_-_Altstadt_-_Schloss_-_Ansicht_von_SSW_(2).jpg

Description:

Haigerloch, Germany: view of Haigerloch Castle and the castle church with the surrounding valley.

friendly fire n 🔊

1. (military) Weapons fire coming from allied or friendly forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces.

☞ Tomorrow, July 28, is the date on which World War I started in 1914.

United States bombing raid over a German city - NARA - 197269.jpg

Stonewall Jackson.jpg

An American B-17 Flying Fortress “Miss Donna Mae II” is damaged by friendly fire (bombs) after drifting under the American bomber flying above it during the bombing of Berlin in 1944.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_27

The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong. The numinosum is dangerous because it lures men to extremes, so that a modest truth is regarded as the truth and a minor mistake is equated with fatal error.

— Carl Jung

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_26%2C_2026

first strike n 🔊

1. (military) An attack (typically nuclear) launched without warning in the absence of a prior attack by one's opponent, with the intention of destroying the opponent's ability to retaliate.
2. (criminal law) A first offense by a lawbreaker, as counted by a three-strikes law.
3. (numismatics) One of the first few coins struck from a new set of dies.

☞ In two days is July 28, the date on which World War I started in 1914.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_26

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stage_20_Tour_de_France_2024_Col_de_la_Couillole_40.jpg

Description:

Magnus Cort in the French Alps on Tour de France 2024. Tour de France will finish today on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirov_Oblast_Zuevka_railway_station_asv2019-05_img2.jpg

Description:

Soviet FD20 steam locomotive exposed at Zuyevka railway station, Kirov Oblast, Russia

Those who discover things for themselves and express them in their own way are not overly bothered by the fact that others have already discovered these things — have even discovered them over and over again — and have expressed what they found in all manner of ways.

— Eric Hoffer

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_25%2C_2026

The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward.

— Amelia Earhart

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_24%2C_2026

life car n 🔊

1. (historical) A watertight boat or box, travelling on a line from a wrecked vessel to the shore, used to haul people through the waves in a rescue.

☞ Today is World Drowning Prevention Day, a United Nations observance raising awareness around the dangers of drowning and ways to prevent deaths due to drowning.

PSM V15 D201 Life car with hawser and hauling lines.jpg

A diagram of a life-car

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_25

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Machu_Picchu.png

Description:

Photograph of Machu Picchu taken in 1912 by Hiram Bingham during the Yale Peruvian Expedition. The site, an important Inca citadel in the Andes of Peru, had been visited earlier by local people such as Agustín Lizárraga in 1902, and was later brought to international attention through Bingham’s expeditions of 1911 and 1912. Today marks the anniversary of Bingham’s 1911 visit, which contributed to its worldwide recognition.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:024_Male_green_kingfisher_in_Encontro_das_%C3%81guas_State_Park_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent.jpg

Description:

Male Green kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) in Mato Grosso, Brazil

union n 🔊

1. (countable) The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
2. (uncountable) The state of being united or joined; a state of unity or harmony.
3. (countable) Something united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; a league.
4. (countable) A trade union; a workers' union.
5. (countable) An association of students at a university for social and/or political purposes; also in some cases a debating body.
6. (countable) A joint or other connection uniting parts of machinery, such as pipes.
7. (countable, set theory) The set containing all of the elements of two or more sets.
8. (countable) The act or state of marriage.
9. (uncountable, archaic, euphemistic) Sexual intercourse.
10. (countable, programming) A data structure that can store any of various types of item, but only one at a time.
11. (countable, now rare, archaic) A large, high-quality pearl.
12. (historical) An affiliation of several parishes for joint support and management of their poor; also the jointly-owned workhouse.

union v

1. (set theory) To combine sets using the union operation.

union adj

1. Belonging to, represented by, or otherwise pertaining to a labour union.
2. (India) federal.

☞ The New York Marriage Equality Act took effect on this day in 2011, legalizing same-sex marriage in New York and influencing similar legislation in other states.

hiero D46.png

hiero S23.png

** Armenian: միություն (hy) (miutʻyun), միավորում (hy) (miavorum)

• Bashkir: берлек (berlek), берләшмә (berləşmə), берекмә (berekmə), союз (sojuz)

• Belarusian: саю́з m (sajúz), звяз m (zvjaz), зьвяз m (zʹvjaz) (Taraškievica)

• Bulgarian: съю́з (bg) m (săjúz)

• Catalan: unió (ca) f

• Chinese:: Dungan: лянбон (lianbon): Mandarin: 聯盟 / 联盟 (zh) (liánméng)

• Czech: svaz (cs) m, svazek (cs) m, unie (cs) f

• Danish: forening c, union (da) c

• Dutch: unie (nl) f, bond (nl) m, vereniging (nl) f, verbond (nl) n

• Egyptian:

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(dmḏ)

• Esperanto: unio
• Estonian: liit
• Finnish: liitto (fi)
• French: groupement (fr) m
• Galician: unión (gl) f
• Georgian: კავშირი (ka) (ḳavširi), გაერთიანება (gaertianeba)
• German: Vereinigung (de) f, Union (de) f
• Greek: ένωση (el) f (énosi), σύνδεσμος (el) m (sýndesmos)
• Hindi: संयुक्त (hi) (sãyukt)
• Hungarian: unió (hu), szövetség (hu), egyesület (hu)
• Icelandic: samband (is) n, bandalag n, samtök n pl
• Indonesian: serikat (id)
• Irish: aontas m
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: (regions) 連邦 (ja) (れんぽう, renpō), (group) 同盟 (ja) (どうめい, dōmei)
• Javanese: sarékat
• Kannada: ಒಕ್ಕೂಟ (kn) (okkūṭa)
• Kazakh: одақ (odaq)
• Khmer: សហពលកម្ម (saʼhaʼpŭəllĕəʼkam), សង្គតិ (km) (sɑngkĕəʼteʼ)
• Kurdish:: Central Kurdish: یەکیەتی (ckb) (yekyetî)
• Latin: societās (la) f, ūniō (la) f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Malayalam: യൂണിയൻ (ml) (yūṇiyaṉ)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Marathi: संघ m (saṅgha)
• Mongolian:: Cyrillic: холбоо (mn) (xolboo)
• Norwegian:: Bokmål: forening (no) m or f, union (no) m: Nynorsk: union m
• Persian:: Iranian Persian: اِتِّحادِیِه (ettehâdiye)
• Polish: unia (pl) f, związek (pl) m
• Portuguese: união (pt) f
• Romanian: uniune (ro)
• Russian: сою́з (ru) m (sojúz), соедине́ние (ru) n (sojedinénije), объедине́ние (ru) n (obʺjedinénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:: Cyrillic: са́вез m, у̑нија f: Latin: sávez (sh) m, ȗnija (sh) f
• Slovak: únia f, zväz (sk) m, sväz m (obsolete)
• Slovene: unija f, zveza f
• Spanish: unión (es) f
• Swahili: shirikisho (sw)
• Swedish: förening (sv) c, union (sv) c
• Tagalog: kaisahan
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ittifak (tr), birlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: сою́з m (sojúz)
• Uyghur: ئىتتىپاق (ittipaq)
• Vietnamese: liên minh (vi) (聯盟), liên bang (vi) (聯邦)
• Yakut: холбоһук (qolbohuk)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרבאַנד m (farband), פֿאַראיין m (fareyn)*

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_24

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Georg_-_Mundelfingen_-_High_altar_04.jpg

Description:

This statue of Mary Magdalene is at the main altar of the parish church St. Georg in Hüfingen-Mundelfingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Today is Mary Magdalene's feast day.

The burning noon sends floods of molten gold, The calm night crowns thee with its host of stars, The moon enfolds thee with her silver veil, And o'er thee e'er is arched the rainbow's span, — The gorgeous marriage-ring of Earth and Heaven. While ever from the holy altar grand Ascends the incense of the mist and spray, That mounts to God with thy wild roar of praise.

— Emma Lazarus

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_22%2C_2026

I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss-waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of barroom vernacular, this is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed and attentive. The method may not be perfect, but it is all I have.

— Raymond Chandler

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_23%2C_2026

pyramidal adj 🔊

1. (geometry) Pyramid-shaped.
   1. (crystallography) Tetragonal.

☞ Today is Revolution Day in Egypt, a public holiday in Egypt commemorating the Egyptian revolution of 1952.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_23

Boston marriage n 🔊

1. (historical) A long-term monogamous relationship between two unmarried women, especially in New England between the 18th and early 20th centuries.

☞ On this day in 1893, Katharine Lee Bates, who was in a Boston marriage with Katharine Coman, summited Pikes Peak and was inspired to write “America the Beautiful”.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_22

Throughout Finnegans Wake Joyce specifies the Tower of Babel as the tower of Sleep, that is, the tower of the witless assumption, or what Bacon calls the reign of the Idols.

— Marshall McLuhan

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Quote_of_the_day/July_21%2C_2026

deprecate v 🔊

1. (transitive) To express disapproval of, protest or plead against.
2. (transitive) To belittle, depreciate.
3. (transitive, chiefly computing) To declare something obsolescent; to recommend against a function, technique, command, etc. that still works but has been replaced.
4. (archaic, transitive) To pray against.
5. (archaic, transitive) To regret deeply.

☞ On this day, 15 years ago, Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center, concluding the final mission in the Space Shuttle program.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day/2026/July_21

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:STS-135_Atlantis%27_final_tow_back.jpg

Description:

Space Shuttle Atlantis being towed back from the Shuttle Landing Facility to Orbiter Processing Facility-2 after completing STS-135, bringing the Space Shuttle program to an end. Today marks the 15th anniversary of said event.