The aim of the present article is to reveal the possibilities of a rhetoric interpretation of stylistic and formal properties of linguistic academic texts based on the example of definitions used in these texts. In this order the author characterises such components of professional scholarly communication as functional style and relevant professional language. Next, basic information concerning the typology of definitions is given and an attempt is made to determine the kinds of definitions used in linguistic academic texts. The author exposes the problem of these texts being persuasive.
