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The article deals with the features of such a linguistic phenomenon as the change in the word-meaning on the example of the English language. Using a complex model of methodology based on a combination of system analysis, semantic and component analysis, as well as the method of phraseological identification, the authors identify key processes in the course of changing the word-meaning in the English language using the example of idioms. The change in word-meaning is dictated, on the one hand, by the influence of extra linguistic factors, including the processes of historical and cultural interaction, social factors influence; and, on the other hand, by linguistic reasons, the most productive of them is the linguistic analogy. The research work stresses that the influence of extra linguistic factors, namely the change in the socio-cultural characteristics of society to a greater extent, influenced the process of changing the word-meaning. It is proved that over time, words in the English language have changed their meaning to an antonymic one. Word-meaning changing can be of two types: expanding the word-meaning and narrowing the word-meaning. It has been proved that the expansion of the word-meaning is more productive for modern British English and American English. The analysis of the change in the word-meaning on the example of idioms functioning in British English and American English variant proved the possibility of preserving the original meaning of some lexical units within phraseological units, which is dictated by the specific possibility of idioms to preserve the original linguistic and cultural meaning of some words.