diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
index 2e0f645aa9..baf30a4413 100644
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -3325,7 +3325,7 @@ def heads(ui, repo, *branchrevs, **opts):
     """show branch heads
 
     With no arguments, show all open branch heads in the repository.
-    Branch heads are changesets that have no child changesets on the
+    Branch heads are changesets that have no descendants on the
     same branch. They are where development generally takes place and
     are the usual targets for update and merge operations.