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
Image The theme is the conflict between mother tongues and other tongues.
—
Jesse Green, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Yiddish, the mother tongue of Ashkenazi Jews in Europe for nearly a thousand years, is still spoken by about six hundred thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews mostly concentrated in America, Europe, and Israel.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025
So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Jesse Green, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Yiddish, the mother tongue of Ashkenazi Jews in Europe for nearly a thousand years, is still spoken by about six hundred thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews mostly concentrated in America, Europe, and Israel.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025
So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
So to be able to play in my mother tongue would be an amazing experience because there would be no boundaries whatsoever.
—Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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It was trained on the entire Internet to pull out statistical patterns in the language usage.—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
14 July 2025
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Adding classes in Spanish for those who read, write and speak it as their first language is another part of the plan to make schooling at CLC both more affordable and less challenging.—
Steve Sadin,
Chicago Tribune,
14 July 2025
Noun
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During the Cold War, popular culture provided Americans with images of (and a vocabulary for) nuclear war.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
10 July 2025
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But at the start of the project, which launched in 2023, their vocabularies differed dramatically.—
Adam Hurly,
Robb Report,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Tipp's reactions to new triggers included throat closing, tongue swelling, flushing, itching, vomiting, diarrhea, brain fog, bone pain, headaches and extreme stomach pain.—
Wendy Grossman Kantor,
People.com,
3 July 2025
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The beef tongue taco is insane, and all the birria meat is incredibly tender and flavorful.—
Mackensy Lunsford,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Applications are now open to educators worldwide currently teaching kindergarten through high school in a public, private or charter school, who speak Spanish, Portuguese, English or any native dialect.—
Griselda Flores,
Billboard,
28 June 2025
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With Scottish writer George Blake’s novel, The Shipbuilders, language and dialect were tamed thanks to Sylvia’s views.—
Nicola Wilson
June 26,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
Noun
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Overall, the impression the car imparts is decidedly futuristic, and the design idiom certainly aligns with other recent luxurious EV concepts, such as those unveiled by Jaguar, Mercedes, and Genesis, as well as production vehicles such as the Tesla Cybertruck.—
Brett Berk,
Robb Report,
8 July 2025
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By the time these terms get into the mainstream, new ones have already appeared, although some (such as to dig or cool) remain staples of the idiom despite wide non-Negro use.—
Benjamin Hale
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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