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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Still, for distributors and exhibitors in the United States, bringing foreign-language films to theaters sometimes seems like an act of philanthropy, while French sales agent grumble about the low sales prices.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
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Foreign language films, documentaries, cross pollination with their music artists, and more producing are all on the table.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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So to get to be playing the character who originated a saying that is a huge part of my vocabulary — and that I’ve been so obsessed with for so long — is crazy.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Mar. 2026
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Rosanna Arquette has a major issue with Quentin Tarantino's vocabulary.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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On March 2—one day before debuting her new pageboy bob at Paris Fashion Week—Hadid made her grand entrance in a pair of straight-leg jeans that stop well above the ankle, showing off much of her beige crew sock and the entire tongue of her black loafers.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
7 Mar. 2026
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If our fates were inscribed in our genetics, why would anyone bother to maintain a skin-care routine, much less go to the trouble of jamming his tongue against the top of his mouth or whacking himself with a hammer?—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but the Kurdish population has diverse religious, cultural, social and political traditions, as well as a variety of dialects of the Kurdish language.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
5 Mar. 2026
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How could food from India’s 23 states — with multitudinous subregions and over a thousand dialects — ever be distilled into the generic naan, dal, butter chicken, dosa and sambar?—
Kalpana Mohan,
Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Those books introduced me to a vision of American teenage life and taught me the rhythms and idioms of American English, nuances that would later replace my Britishisms and shape my career as a journalist.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Next to the particularities of place—the Midwest, the South—or enmeshed with it, are the particularities of language, of idiom, and ways of saying.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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