as in languages
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 tongues
Work with people of different ages, backgrounds, perspectives, and mother tongues.
—
Rachel Konrad, Time, 9 Dec. 2025
Each actress nails the comedic timing – and the accented English that flows with the cadence of their mother tongues.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, Cincinnati Enquirer, 7 Nov. 2025
Rachel Konrad, Time, 9 Dec. 2025
Each actress nails the comedic timing – and the accented English that flows with the cadence of their mother tongues.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, Cincinnati Enquirer, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongues
Noun
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While some of the social media videos posted by Africans are in English and French, many are in languages like Igbo, Swahili and Twi, to appeal directly to audiences in target countries.—
Larry Madowo,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
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Dozens of rooms have wooden booths lined with foam for soundproofing, scripts written in multiple languages, lists of names and phone numbers, computer monitors and empty brackets for hard drives.—
Sakchai Lalit,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Teams were asked to learn new interfaces, adopt new vocabularies, and take responsibility for outputs whose behavior remained probabilistic rather than deterministic.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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The discovery of language skills in great apes — various gorillas and chimps learned substantial vocabularies in sign language or symbols — and that of tool use across the animal kingdom have, over the years, chipped away at the idea that there is any single ingredient that makes humans unique.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Farr wasn't completely certain that the cast and crew would be able to bite their tongues long enough to let the twist shock the world when episode 3 finally arrived.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
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The main changes occur on the upper, which swaps out the shoe’s usual ballistic nylon for a full-leather construction that extends to the lace loops, heel tabs and tongues.—
Riley Jones,
Footwear News,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Like fellow North Carolinians Wednesday and MJ Lenderman—local stars descended from the likes of Lucinda Williams and Drive-By Truckers—Dowdy carves complex new visions into the idioms of his upbringing.—
Jenn Pelly,
Time,
4 Dec. 2025
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For decades, the Grisons had printed textbooks in five Romansh idioms—a baroque solution that invited a more rational one.—
Simon Akam,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The event also featured a video about the three countries and fundraising for Sudan, poetry readings, a Kahoot game about the three dialects and prizes, henna and face painting, Syrian dance, a Sudanese wedding reenactment, a fashion show and ethnic food.—
Janice Neumann,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
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Each one is overflowing with the familiar sights of families taking a passeggiata, or stroll, the aromatic smells of fresh pasta and pizza napoletana, and the musical sounds of the Italian language and its many regional dialects.—
Giovanna Caravetta,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongues.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongues. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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