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Abstract: This article focuses on the following nouns: proseka (a cut-through), paseka (an apiary) and zaseka (an abatis). These are verbal derivatives of one family of words with the common semantic component sech’ (cut, cut down). The origin of these words and the history of their use in the ancient Russian manuscripts of the 16th–17th centuries have become the main object of this research. The derivative nature of these nouns has brought about the need to study the semantic peculiarities of the original verb sech’ (cut, cut down) and a number of prefixal verbs formed from it: prosech’ (to cut through), otsech’ (to cut off), peresech’ (to cut short, to stop), zasech’ (to make an abatis), etc., as well as the nouns associated with them. The units of this family of words are used in the military and household contexts. Initially, the verb sech’ (to cut) was associated with nomination of the warrior’s action on the battlefield. As a result of transfer of nominations from the military sphere to peaceful life, the verbs prosech’ (to cut through), zasech’ (to make an abatis), and the like began to be correlated with other actions, the purpose of which is not destruction as much as creation.