mother tongue

noun

1
: one's native language
2
: a language from which another language derives

Examples of mother tongue in a Sentence

although the anthropologist could speak the local language fairly well, she was always glad to find someone who shared her mother tongue
Recent Examples on the Web The font on the album cover is a play on the Geʽez script used in Amharic, her mother tongue. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2024 Who among us doesn’t feel — either occasionally or always — like social codes are a chaotic second language that other people were born speaking like a mother tongue? David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2024 And when this Medellín native greets me in his mother tongue, the melody of his voice is nearly as tender as his ballads. Patricia Alfonso Tortolani, Allure, 23 July 2024 In this respect, Franklin and Washington, whose language is their hereditary mother tongue, unsophisticated by modern grammar, present as pure models of genuine English, as Addison or Swift. Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 19 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for mother tongue 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mother tongue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mother tongue was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near mother tongue

Cite this Entry

“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20tongue. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

mother tongue

noun
1
: one's native language
2
: a language from which another language develops
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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