POLYSEMOUS WORDS IN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

Polysemy—the coexistence of multiple meanings for a single word—presents both a rich area of linguistic inquiry and a significant challenge in translation, lexicography, and language learning. This article provides a comparative semantic analysis of polysemous words in Russian and English, focusing on their structure, development, and function. Through detailed examples and facts, the paper highlights similarities and differences in how polysemy manifests in the two languages, and discusses implications for translation, cognition, and communication.