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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Yiddish, the mother tongue of Ashkenazi Jews in Europe for nearly a thousand years, is still spoken by about six hundred thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews mostly concentrated in America, Europe, and Israel. Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025 So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever. Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025 So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever. Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025 The show opened with songs in Mukherjee’s mother tongue Bengali, that were composed, written and sung by famous Bengali musicians including Nobel Prize awardee Rabindranath Tagore. Riddhi Doshi, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mother tongue

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20tongue. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.

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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