The problem of functioning of the phrase служитиель культа in the Russian language during the Soviet times is analysed in this article. The research, which was based on the Russian descriptive dictionaries edited before and after the October Revolution, showed that the phrase служитиель культа has appeared in the beginning of the Soviet period. It was created for the needs of the formal Soviet terminology and it was used in the antireligious propaganda language to designate the clergy. The analysis proved that this phrase had the pejorative connotations originally so it was used in the process of depreciating some elements of the Ortodox culture (i.e. in the lexicographic description of religious lexis). In the newest Russian dictionaries the analyzed phrase is presented as getting out of date. Currently, it has being replaced by a neutral phrase – служитель церкви – which was already used before the Revoluton. This fact proves the negative connotations of the phrase служитиель культа.
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