mother tongue

noun

1

: one's native language

2

: a language from which another language derives

Synonyms

• language
• lingo
• speech
• tongue
• vocabulary

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

Miranda is a rare instance of Björk writing her lyrics entirely in Icelandic, and her melodies sound lovely and in some ways more natural in her mother tongue. —Al Shipley, SPIN, 22 Jan. 2025

But most also want their children to first gain a strong grounding in their mother tongue. —Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025

Childhood friends in Belfast meet and start making sick beats with their music teacher, and the trio's use of the country's mother tongue fuels a youth movement against the establishment. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024

The results were weighted according to age, gender, mother tongue, region, education and presence of children in the household. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mother tongue

noun

1

: one's native language

2

: a language from which another language develops