The article aims at analyzing the fourfold use of words with root ѹсм- as a denomination for the tanned leather and the relevant craft, exercised by the hagiographic hero. They occur in two different parts original and translated of the manuscript № 1521 from 1564, located in the Church Historical and Archive Institute in Sofia. The manuscript itself contains the unique copy of the Nikola of Sofia’s Life by Matthew the Grammarian, which testifies the spread and the spiritual fundaments of the Sofia new martyrdom during the 16th century. The profile of the new martyrs in the name of Christ chares some common features, among which their professions, or crafts – an undoubted sign of realistic description and historical plausibility. The forms ѹсмошьвььство, ѹсмошьвььскъ, ѹсмотворьць, ѹсмꙑ шити enrich the lexicographic interpretation of the motivating word ѹсма, ѹсъмиѥ, ѹсмъ, and allows the analysis to be carried out in the light of the biblical and the cultural tradition.
Key words: historical lexicology and lexicography, Sofia literary school, Bulgarian language in the 16th century.
