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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mother tongue
Playing off a six-language broadcast which means it can be viewed by 75% of Europeans in their mother tongue, Arte is still growing.
—
John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
First seen at a night-club table of menacing lowlifes, Ida, whose mother tongue is Brooklynese, suddenly switches to a heavy British accent and dispenses a torrent of highly literary sarcasms.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
First seen at a night-club table of menacing lowlifes, Ida, whose mother tongue is Brooklynese, suddenly switches to a heavy British accent and dispenses a torrent of highly literary sarcasms.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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The catalog runs to more than 400 Chinese-language, 200 English-language and 50 Korean titles spanning variety, reality and comedy.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
26 May 2026
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His novels have been translated into twenty different languages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 May 2026
Noun
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Adding complexity, these disparate systems don’t always use the same vocabulary.—
Sarah Jones,
Footwear News,
22 May 2026
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Each has its own vocabulary, grammar, and intellectual flavor.—
Konstantin Kakaes,
Quanta Magazine,
20 May 2026
Noun
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Her name was on the tip of many tongues.—
Lila Seidman,
Los Angeles Times,
23 May 2026
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Jurado noted that tongues of salt water are already encroaching into some of the freshwater areas of South Florida.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
23 May 2026
Noun
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Yet Cornelius Krull, the patriarch, speaks only a German dialect and never utters more than two words.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
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Many older residents speak not just Italian and Croatian, but also a local dialect derived from Old Venetian and Old Croatian.—
Kevin West,
Travel + Leisure,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Language is often a reflection of the culture that shapes it, impacting tone, idioms, dialects and even silence across regions.—
Ryan Kolln,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2026
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Probably because at the time many of the time signatures and chordal progressions that Miles used were over the head of a young guitar player still functioning in the blues and folk idioms.—
Steve Baltin,
Los Angeles Times,
25 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 28 May. 2026.
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