Meanings
plural first languages
- The first language one is taught to speak; one's native language.
She was born and raised in France, although her first language is Portuguese because her parents are from Brazil.
1 more example
Vocabulary is a vital component of educational success in both first and second language contexts.
2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 105Synonyms: native language, mother tongue, mother language
- The language one feels most comfortable and capable with.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe first language one is taught to speak; one's native language.
More synonyms by meaning
nounone's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 第一語言 /第一语言
- 第一語言 /第一语言 (dìyī-yǔyán)first language — see also mother tongue
Danish modersmål
- modersmålfirst language — see also mother tongue
German Erstsprache
- Erstsprachefirst language — see also mother tongue
Hindi मातृभाषा
- मातृभाषा (mātŕbhāṣā)first language — see also mother tongue
Norwegian Bokmål førstespråk
- førstespråkfirst language — see also mother tongue
Polish język ojczysty
- język ojczystyfirst language — see also mother tongue
Swahili lugha ya kwanza
- lugha ya kwanzafirst language — see also mother tongue
Cite this entry
first language. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20language
“first language.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20language. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “first language,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first%20language.
Source: first language on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.