DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 mother tongue
 母語,本國語,本族語

 Moth·er, a. Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.
    It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.   --T. Arnold.
 Mother cell Biol., a cell which, by endogenous divisions, gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.
 Mother church, the original church; a church from which other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a diocese.
 Mother country, the country of one's parents or ancestors; the country from which the people of a colony derive their origin.
 Mother liquor Chem., the impure or complex residual solution which remains after the salts readily or regularly crystallizing have been removed.
 Mother queen, the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen mother.
 Mother tongue. (a) A language from which another language has had its origin. (b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.
 Mother water. See Mother liquor (above).
 Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.

 mother tongue
      n : one's native language; the language learned by children and
          passed from one generation to the next [syn: maternal
          language, first language]