mother tongue
/ˈmʌð.ə ˌtʌŋ/
"mother-tongue" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mother tongue” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mother tongue |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmʌð.ə ˌtʌŋ/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mother tongue” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mother tongue is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmʌð.ə ˌtʌŋ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for mother tongue in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mother tonge, modyr tong, equivalent to mother + tongue. Compare Old Norse móðurtunga (“mother tongue”). The correct English form is mother tongue, spelled M-O-T-H-E-R- -T-O-N-G-U-E.
Definition
- 1The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language.
- 2The language spoken by one’s ancestors.
- 3The language spoken by one's mother, when it differs from that spoken by one's father.
- 4Informal speech, as opposed to educated language.
Etymology
From Middle English mother tonge, modyr tong, equivalent to mother + tongue. Compare Old Norse móðurtunga (“mother tongue”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “mother tongue”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-T-H-E-R- -T-O-N-G-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmʌð.ə ˌtʌŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.