Terrorism belongs to anthropologically significant concepts of the modern world and is the subject of interdisciplinary research. Philosophy, sociology, political sciences investigate the nature of terrorism and record the main features of the concept “Terrorismˮ at each stage of social development. This article considers not only the basic content of the concept “Terrorismˮ, but also investigates the development of the concept`s cognitive structure, which includes peculiarities of its perception by human language and thinking. The cognitive structure of the concept, which consists of the core, information content and interpretive field, is constantly changing according to our knowledge about the concept. The article aims to study linguistic objectification of the concept “Terrorismˮ. The changes in interpretative field of the concept and its metaphorization in mass media discourse are illustrated by 38 text units taken from German mass media outlets. The methods used in the article are empirical observation and the conceptual analysis. Dynamic changes in the structure of the concept became apparent after the events of September 11, 2001. Findings: Terror is becoming a tool of state policy and diplomacy; Internet forums, instant messengers and social networks hide those who sympathize with terrorism; some individuals dabble in terrorism; suspicious characters are equated to terrorists; any tension in society leads to threatening messages; radical groups with their own specific methods have appeared; the metaphorization of “Terrorism” includes the following motivating features: natural phenomena, wars, religious confrontation, shadow leaders, network, powerful creatures, games.