The present article provides arguments to prove the idea that the origins of the specific system of Russian adjectives dates back to the period of the Old Russian language (the 16th-17th centuries). The research is based on the material of the "Dictionary of Everyday Russian Language Moscow Russia 16th-17th centuries" and its card-files. In the language of the 16thñ17th centuries the quantity of adjectives grew, their frequency in texts increased, new combinations were formed, some important semantic processes took place, e.g.: the formation of model semantics, the emergence of generalized words in different thematic groups and synonymic series, the occurrence of cases of regular change of grammatical categories of adjectives. In the history of culture adjectives carry important information about the medieval type of thinking and perception of certain qualities, serve as the source of specific historical data, provide information about the characteristics essential to the phenomena in a certain historical per