Аннотация:In the article, we propose a specification of semantics of the Proto-Slavic root *gol- / adjective *golъ with the help of linguogeographic analysis of several derived terms. The main part of the work is dedicated to the word *golьcь meaning ‘beardless young man’. It is discovered that the descendants of this noun are most prominent in Czech and Sorbian languages and also found in some Polish, Croatian and Slovene dialects. Attention is drawn to a previously unnoticed Belarusian word голец, attested several times in works by Jakub Kołas; a hypothesis about its Polish origin is put forward. An excerpt from a Novgorodian manuscript of XV century of Ivan Toyvit, usually considered obscure, is analysed, the word голець is interpreted as ‘bare plot of land’. For the first time, the history of the Russian word оголец ‘naughty boy’ is thoroughly examined. It is concluded that its original meaning has to do with poverty, and argued that it is not related etymologically to *golьcь. In the next section of the publication, we uphold the old hypothesis that the verb голити in East Slavic dialects obtained the meaning ‘to shave’ under Polish influence; it is noted that the cognates of this verb in Bulgarian and Macedonian do not appear to have such semantics either. In conclusion, a thesis is put forward that the meanings of the root *gol- having to do with hairlessness were unknown to the ancestral dialects of the East Slavic and Bulgarian-Macedonian zone. Thus, our analysis shows that the semantics of the root *gol- may have been different already in Proto-Slavic dialects and illustrates the significance of dialectological studies for semantic reconstruction.