In the article ‘On the Etymology of Some Russian Words I’ the author discusses the necessity to amplify or reinterpret previous etymological reconstructions in the light of contemporary scientific paradigm. The article analyzes Slavic lexemes *zajęcь, *dętьlъ and a Russian lexeme бабочка, offering to interpret *zajęcь as ‘moving with noise’, *dętьlъ as ‘the one who eats with the help of a beak’ and бабочка as an onomatopoeic word, connected by means of reduplication to the dialectal бякать.