mother tongue

[ muhth-er tuhng muhth-er tuhng ]

noun

1. the language first learned by a person; native language.
2. mother language.

mother tongue

noun

1. the language first learned by a child
2. a language from which another has evolved

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother tongue¹

1350–1400; Middle English moder tonge

Example Sentences

One of my roommates muttered, wondering whether Yang was too good to speak in his mother tongue.

From MIT Technology Review

Victoria doesn’t allow Gouramma to see her father again, and Gouramma eventually loses the ability to speak Hindi, her mother tongue.

From Time

Like Armenians of that generation, they spoke Turkish and lacked the incentive or security to preserve their mother tongue.

From Outside Online

I think when you read something in the mother tongue it resonates more strongly.

From The Daily Beast

In a moving autobiographical essay in 2001, Mother Tongue, he wrote: “At home, there was violence in the air.”

From The Daily Beast

His mother tongue is French, but he speaks nine languages, including five African dialects.

From The Daily Beast

Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.

From Project Gutenberg

Come, give us again the message of the warrior and his armour and his battle, in the mother-tongue, so that all can understand it.

From Project Gutenberg

Our mother tongue hardly knew itself, it ran so fluently and sounded so magniloquently and lied so naturally.

From Project Gutenberg

We speak of the "mother country" and "mother tongue," but to the Roman these were patria and serm patrius.

From Project Gutenberg

It may sound severe and uncalled-for from me, but every man who has forgotten his mother-tongue is tottering on his feet.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• first language