Historical semantics of the lexeme “князь” (prince) in the Russian language and its functioning in the texts of the Old Testament, New Testament, and exegetical interpretations

<jats:p>The study aims to establish the specific meanings of the lexeme “князь” (prince) in Russian religious texts through the lens of Russian language history. This article presents an analysis of lexicographic material from historical dictionaries of the Russian language and examples from Russian religious (Orthodox) discourse. A comparison of the vocabulary and specific discursively conditioned usages allows us to explore the realization of the religious semantics of the lexeme “князь”. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the fact that for the first time, the historical stability of the seme ‘ruler/sovereign’ is established for the lexeme “князь”. The study also determines the evaluative potential of the lexeme in religious discourse and demonstrates that this evaluation is ambivalent. This is related to both the origin of the word and its function. The article also establishes for the first time that the word “князь” has a syncretic semantic meaning in the religious sphere. Reference to biblical and liturgical texts reveals this syncretism as a result of the historical semantic transformations of this word, which combines evaluative, symbolic, religious, and social meanings. The article demonstrates that in religious texts, the lexeme “князь” can name and characterize Christ, the apostles, secular and ecclesiastical rulers, and the devil. Moreover, the general component of power within the lexeme’s semantic scope is evaluated depending on the referent and context. The specific meaning of ‘upper part, upper beam’, present in the Russian Church Slavonic tradition, is preserved separately. It is established that the stable core of the lexeme’s semantic structure is formed by the semes ‘ruler’ and ‘commanding’, while its historical development is accompanied by a narrowing of meaning, semantic divergence, and the formation of homonyms.</jats:p>