mother tongue

[ muhth-er tuhng for 1; muhth-er tuhng for 2 ]
See synonyms for mother tongue on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the language first learned by a person; native language.

Origin of mother tongue

1
1350–1400; Middle English moder tonge

Words Nearby mother tongue

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mother tongue in a sentence

  • His mother tongue is French, but he speaks nine languages, including five African dialects.

    The Seven Foot Philanthropist | Sandra McElwaine | June 4, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.

    The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
  • Come, give us again the message of the warrior and his armour and his battle, in the mother-tongue, so that all can understand it.

    The First Christmas Tree | Henry Van Dyke
  • Our mother tongue hardly knew itself, it ran so fluently and sounded so magniloquently and lied so naturally.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • We speak of the "mother country" and "mother tongue," but to the Roman these were patria and serm patrius.

    The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone Johnston
  • It may sound severe and uncalled-for from me, but every man who has forgotten his mother-tongue is tottering on his feet.

British Dictionary definitions for mother tongue

mother tongue

noun
  1. the language first learned by a child

  2. a language from which another has evolved

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012