native language

[ ney-tiv lang-gwij ]

noun

1. a language that a person acquires fully through extensive exposure in childhood:

   Many Diné children learn Navajo as a native language.

Word History and Origins

Origin of native language¹

First recorded in 1425–75 as natife langage

Example Sentences

She said someone had already given her the literature in her native language, but Morrison was confident.

From The Daily Beast

How does literature in your native language differ from English?

From The Daily Beast

“I cannot write my native language and have no native home any more,” Kerouac wrote in 1950.

From The Daily Beast

The Chilean-born man also alleges that he was not allowed to describe the incident in Spanish, his native language.

From The Daily Beast

The clues are in English—Brad and Ken's native language; not Watson's.

From The Daily Beast

He wrote verses with elegance in French, Spanish and Italian, and was a polisher of his native language in a barbarous age.

From Project Gutenberg

Sin Sin Wa's expression underwent a subtle change at the sound of his native language.

From Project Gutenberg

They then both knelt down in the field, while he lifted up his voice, in his native language, in thanks.

From Project Gutenberg

Then she turned to Miela and poured out a torrent of her native language.

From Project Gutenberg

Inspector Manvers was colonial born and could speak the native language fluently.

From Project Gutenberg