The following study is devoted to the lexicographic description of the German lexeme Intellekt in comparison with its equivalent интеллект in Russian. The review covers the existing explanatory and synonymous dictionaries of the German and Russian languages. The analysis of the various definitions presented in lexicographic sources made it possible to get a complete picture of the general linguistic semantic features of the lexemes under consideration and to determine the composition of their main paradigmatic series. A comparative analysis made it possible to reveal the nationally specific characteristics of the concept verbalized by the indicated lexical units in the two compared languages.