This study examines how plant-related words, known as phytonyms, are used in English and Uzbek to describe human characteristics. It focuses on two types of meaning: lexical meanings, which are fixed and recorded in dictionaries, and occasional meanings, which are context-dependent and often appear in literature and everyday speech. Through semantic, pragmatic, and comparative-typological analysis, the article investigates how both languages use phytonyms to express people's physical appearance, mental traits, and social behavior. The results show that while many figurative uses of phytonyms reflect shared human thought processes, unique, culture-specific meanings also develop due to environmental, historical, and cultural factors. This contrast highlights both the expressive potential of figurative speech and the complexity of interpreting and translating context-based meanings across different languages.

phytonyms, lexical meaning, occasional meaning, figurative expression, cross-linguistic comparison, pragmatics, semantics, English, Uzbek

Apperson G.L. English proverbs and proverbial phrases. L., 1949.

Black J.B, Turner T.J, Bower G.H Point of view in narrative comprehension. “Behavior” #18 1970. -87-98p.

Black J.B. Point of view in narrative comprehension – E., Behavior. 1979 – 187 p.

Copeland J.I. New Direction in linguistics and Semantics. H., 1984.

Fillmore Ch. Lexical semantics and text semantics. Copeland. 1984. -123p.

Hall, Peter M. (2007). "Symbolic Interaction". Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeoss310. ISBN 9781405124331

Jakoff G., Jonson M. We live by Chicago. – University of Chicago Press. 1982. 83p.

West, Richard L.; Turner, Lynn H. Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application (6th ed.). New York. ISBN 9781259870323. OCLC 967775008

Willman S. Descriptive semantics in linguistic typology. “World” #3. 1953.

Арутюнова Н.Д. К проблеме функциональных типов-лексических значений. М., 1980.-288 стр.

Курилович Е. Понятие изоморфизма. М., 1962.

Қурбанов О. Ўзбек тилида ғаллачиллик терминлари. Автореф. дисс. ... канд. филол.наук ғ Т. 1974, -32б

Маматов Н. Ўзбек пахтачилик терминологияси. Автореф. дисс. ... канд. филол.наук. Т., 1955.