In the modern science of translation, the term ‘parallel texts’ is used to denote target texts belonging to the same content area and devoted to the same subject as the original texts in the source language. Such texts are regarded as a material aid for the translators in both the reception of original texts as well as creation of target counterparts, especially when they need to select appropriate linguistic items. The article, though, points to another plausible application of parallel texts, i.e. as a material for determining equivalents in lexicographical work. This thesis is illustrated on the basis of an experiment involving the creation of a Russian-Polish dictionary of archaeological terms, which uses the target language parallel corpus as the source material. Out of the three tested sources used to fi nd Russian equivalents for Polish archaeological terms, i.e. dictionaries, parallel texts and the author’s source, the parallel text has turned out to be the most effective, as it yielded, depending on a particular subject, from 48% to 60% equivalents. The article presents both advantages and limitations of the lexicographical method discussed above.
