The article studies the concept PRIDE, representing universal personal‑emotional feature of life ‑ pride, which is singled out in the process of emotional and mental mastering of reality. The etymological and semantic analysis of linguistic units representing the concept PRIDE is carried out on a particular factual material. The core of the concept under study is the notion of pride as a moral category, which is reflected in the dictionary discourse. By analysing lexicographic sources, the conceptual component of the concept is determined. The semantic minimum of its content and its secondary meanings are established. The etymological reconstruction of the keyword of the concept PRIDE is carried out, which gives an idea of the original figurative worldview. Thanks to the data of etymological dictionaries, the meaning development of the nomination of the concept PRIDE has been traced. The conclusion is made that the evolution of the lexeme pride occurs from the characterisation of pride as a negative human trait to its understanding as a sense of self‑esteem, so the semantics of arrogance, vanity has moved in modern explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language from the main meaning to the periphery.