as in language
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
although the anthropologist could speak the local language fairly well, she was always glad to find someone who shared her mother tongue
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Recent Examples of mother tongue
The ones who needed to leave their mother tongue in order to find their true voice.
—
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While many nations have codified their mother tongue—France with French, Japan with Japanese, or Mexico with Spanish—America has always relied on practice and practicality rather than statute.
—Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Japanese is the only language that leaves Li’s mouth, but her occasional inner monologues are in her mother tongue, the most crucial example expressing her growing conflict with the very act of writing itself.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
Many countries offer visas for language learning, which are student visas specifically designed for people interested in studying the mother tongue of a destination.
—Solo Travel, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While many nations have codified their mother tongue—France with French, Japan with Japanese, or Mexico with Spanish—America has always relied on practice and practicality rather than statute.
—Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Japanese is the only language that leaves Li’s mouth, but her occasional inner monologues are in her mother tongue, the most crucial example expressing her growing conflict with the very act of writing itself.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
Many countries offer visas for language learning, which are student visas specifically designed for people interested in studying the mother tongue of a destination.
—Solo Travel, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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Arghavan runs a small language school that teaches French to Iranians who want to live in the Canadian province of Quebec.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
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That language isn’t in the new law.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The propeller hat has become a signature look for the pig — a 4-year-old Vietnamese potbelly named Merlin — who has more than 1 million followers on Instagram, a surprisingly hefty vocabulary and a Guinness World Record.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
5 Apr. 2026
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The subject matter is deathly serious—international war, unfolding in real time, killing thousands—yet the visual vocabulary is preposterously trivializing.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Yellow roach powder covered the scuffed parquet floors and coated the tongue of Masha the cat, who roamed freely through the complex.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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The woman pauses, runs her tongue over her teeth.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Today, many of those words fill out the default dialect of an entire generation — regardless of race, region or class — living online.—
Moriah Humiston,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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The Poison frontman, evoking the regional dialect of his native Pittsburgh, bursts with adrenaline on a typical day.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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An idiom is a phrase that is common to a certain population.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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The centuries-old pot-kettle idiom points out hypocrisy — as when one person accuses another of a flaw that afflicts himself.—
George Skelton,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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