diff --git a/man2/chmod.2 b/man2/chmod.2
index ea37c4551..39e63a9a3 100644
--- a/man2/chmod.2
+++ b/man2/chmod.2
@@ -83,19 +83,21 @@ The
 .BR chmod ()
 and
 .BR fchmod ()
-system calls change the permissions of a file.
-They differ only in how the file is specified:
+system calls change a files mode bits.
+(The file mode consists of the file permission bits plus the set-user-ID,
+set-group-ID, and sticky bits.)
+These system calls differ only in how the file is specified:
 .IP * 2
 .BR chmod ()
-changes the permissions of the file specified whose pathname is given in
+changes the mode of the file specified whose pathname is given in
 .IR pathname ,
 which is dereferenced if it is a symbolic link.
 .IP *
 .BR fchmod ()
-changes the permissions of the file referred to by the open file descriptor
+changes the mode of the file referred to by the open file descriptor
 .IR fd .
 .PP
-The new file permissions are specified in
+The new file mode is specified in
 .IR mode ,
 which is a bit mask created by ORing together zero or
 more of the following: