The present article is aimed at the specific features of a term and the peculiar place of a term in the stock of the English and Russian languages. The specific nature of a term is explained by its characteristic function in the language, that is, to precisely render certain scientific concepts. The meaning of a term is monosemantic. Another important feature of a term is its belonging to the system because a term possesses its specific features only within concrete terminological system, i.e. the terminology of a concrete science or the terminological field. The other specific features are its definition and the absence of stylistical coloring. It is important to emphasize that nowhere in the language can one find such an accurate and conscious use of language and its particular units as in the area of terminology. Terms are the part of a common stock of a language, and they form a special layer of this stock, the units of terminological and non-terminological lexis participating in the process of terminologization and determinologization. Terminologization is interpreted as a process of transition of a word that was usually in general use in the literary language but it has become a term. As a rule, it is usually a two-way process, that is, in the first one the word loses its lexical meaning and receives a precise and well-formulated definition. The other way is borrowing the word from the general literary language, the similarity of one object or phenomenon with the other one being used. In this case the metaphor is the basis for terminologization, in other words, the transfer of the name is taken place, and the formed term appears to be a metaphor in reference to the according word in the general literary language. Determinologization is the other language phenomenon, that is, the case when the term loses its terminological meaning beyond the terminological field. All above said is the evidence of a peculiar status of term in the stock of language.