Thesaurus results for MOTHER TONGUE

mother tongue

noun

Definition of mother tongue

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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 Acting was entirely new territory, but there was a comfort level in the role being Thai and her character speaking both English and her mother tongue. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 23 June 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 From the start of his career, Fela aimed to reach a larger and Pan-African audience by singing almost exclusively in Nigerian Pidgin English (rather than his mother tongue, Yoruba, which doesn't translate throughout most of the continent). — Ian Brennan, NPR, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mother tongue

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue

Noun

In a world order in rupture, international law remains the one language power still has to answer to.

— Alain Berset, Time, 6 July 2026
Although it is celebrated primarily in Latin, Lauer said the language is only part of its appeal.

— Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 6 July 2026

Definition of language

Noun

Understanding The Exposure Gap Many young marketers arrive with ambition, vocabulary and a solid grasp of brand theory.

— Michael Wright, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Meanwhile, the very vocabulary of humanitarianism and antiracism has become so selectively applied or debased as to be meaningless.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026

Definition of vocabulary

Noun

Instead people voted with their wallets and not a single person was harmed except maybe some marketing guys getting a tongue lashing.

— Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026
The oral microbiome is the community of more than 700 bacterial species that live across your teeth, tongue, cheeks, gums and tonsils, making the mouth the second most diverse microbial habitat in the human body after the gut.

— Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026

Definition of tongue

Noun

Unlike the brighter, more melodic style often associated with Austria and the Tyrol region, Swiss yodeling is slower and more melancholic — an emotionally nuanced tradition rooted in distinct regional dialects.

— Jez Fielder, Fortune, 30 June 2026
Unlike the brighter, more melodic style often associated with Austria and the Tyrol region, Swiss yodeling is slower and more melancholic — an emotionally nuanced tradition rooted in distinct regional dialects.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 June 2026

Definition of dialect

Noun

On the one hand, the translation serves as a source for the idioms of nineteenth-century English; on the other, as evidence of the ideas that the translator held about a Colombian woman writer.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Out of love for different sound systems, different writing systems, different grammars, different sets of concepts, different idioms, different ways of seeing the world.

— Douglas Hofstadter, Time, 30 June 2026