diff --git a/django/core/template/defaultfilters.py b/django/core/template/defaultfilters.py
index 73394ead67..b82d54a31c 100644
--- a/django/core/template/defaultfilters.py
+++ b/django/core/template/defaultfilters.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def wordwrap(value, arg):
     """
     Wraps words at specified line length
 
-    Argument: number of words to wrap the text at.
+    Argument: number of characters at which to wrap the text
     """
     from django.utils.text import wrap
     return wrap(str(value), int(arg))
diff --git a/docs/templates.txt b/docs/templates.txt
index 66e1943f23..636132a5aa 100644
--- a/docs/templates.txt
+++ b/docs/templates.txt
@@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ wordwrap
 
 Wraps words at specified line length.
 
-**Argument:** number of words at which to wrap the text
+**Argument:** number of characters at which to wrap the text
 
 yesno
 ~~~~~