The aim of the paper is to present and analyze the conception of natural semantic metalanguage of Anna Wierzbicka. The first part focuses on the inspirations and the foundations of the theory. It outlines the philosophical foundations of the conception of NSM and presents the main trends within linguistics that have had an impact on Wierzbicka’s theory. The second part discusses the theoretical frames of the conception. The paper also presents the explications of selected concepts, in order to show practical use of the natural semantic metalanguage and to analyze the key issues related to the explications. The last part discusses the influence of Wierzbicka on further research in the field of humanities. It presents the most important issues related to the reception of this theory. On the one hand, it mentions the most important objections that have been put forward, or that can be made against this concept. On the other hand, it shows the impact of Wierzbicka’s research on Polish and foreign linguistics and it outlines further research perspectives.