Definition of Mother tongue

1. Noun. One's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next.

Exact synonyms: First Language, Maternal Language
Generic synonyms: Natural Language, Tongue

Definition of Mother tongue

1. Noun. The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language. ¹

2. Noun. The language spoken by one’s ancestors. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Mother Tongue

mother liquor
mother lode
mother lodes
mother of all
mother of chapel
mother of thyme
mother of vinegar
mother sauce
mother sauces
mother ship
mother ships
mother star
mother superior
mother superior complex
mother surrogate
mother tongue (current term)
mother tongues
mother wit
mother yaw
motherboard
motherboards
motherchuckers
mothercraft
mothered
motherer
motherers
motherese
motherf****rs

Literary usage of Mother tongue

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Journal of Education by Henry Barnard (1858)
"According to Comenius, the mother tongue was to be studied. ... He expresses himself most strongly opposed to the neglect of the mother tongue, ..."

2. Education by Project Innovation (Organization) (1895)
"GERMAN METHODS OF USING THE mother tongue. DR. RICHARD DAVIES JONES, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, PA. I cannot now enter upon that large field of discussion among ..."

3. The Poetical Works of John Dryden by John Dryden (1909)
"To Bacchus therefore let us tune our lays, And in our mother tongue resound his Thin cakes in chargers, and a guilty goat, Dragg'd by the horns, ..."

4. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"The French- speaking province of Quebec amply provides for the requirements of the English-speaking minorities, as regards education in their mother tongue. ..."

5. The Principles of Education by William Carl Ruediger (1910)
"The mother tongue. The fundamental aim in teaching the mother tongue is the practical one of reading, writing, and speaking. The subject is the one most ..."

6. The Teaching of English in the Elementary and the Secondary School by George Rice Carpenter, Franklin Thomas Baker, Fred Newton Scott (1913)
"THE GENERAL THEORY OF INSTRUCTION IN THE MOTHER-TONGUE It will be clear that ... Sound systems for the teaching of any mother-tongue have only recently been ..."

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