diff --git a/Lib/test/pickletester.py b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
index ad15fe8ecd4..e862d0771ed 100644
--- a/Lib/test/pickletester.py
+++ b/Lib/test/pickletester.py
@@ -1122,7 +1122,7 @@ class AbstractPickleTests(unittest.TestCase):
         # Test compacity of int representation (see issue #12744)
         for proto in protocols:
             sizes = [len(self.dumps(2**n, proto)) for n in range(70)]
-            # the size function is monotonous
+            # the size function is monotonic
             self.assertEqual(sorted(sizes), sizes)
             if proto >= 2:
                 self.assertLessEqual(sizes[-1], 14)