Synonyms for mother tongue

5 synonyms
1 antonym
1 meaning

noun

Most common

first language mother language native language native tongue

All synonyms

Noun

1. First language — the language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language

first language, native language, mother language, native tongue, vernacular

Antonyms

father tongue

All antonyms of mother tongue →

Definitions

n. 1
The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language.
His mother tongue is a relatively conservative dialect of Aramaic.

Choose the right word

Mother Tongue, Vernacular or Language?

Vernacular, from the Latin, has the same general sense as the Saxon mother tongue, of one's native language, or that of a people; as, the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

By length

10 letters: vernacular⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (vernacular⁴ = 4 syllables).