diff --git a/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex b/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
index 63a73b1476f..d6b5ffe093a 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
@@ -1173,7 +1173,7 @@ It's a function
 
 There are several built-in functions that are no longer essential to learn,
 know or use in modern Python programming.  They have been kept here to
-maintain backwards compatability with programs written for older versions
+maintain backwards compatibility with programs written for older versions
 of Python.
 
 Python programmers, trainers, students and bookwriters should feel free to
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libsets.tex b/Doc/lib/libsets.tex
index e90e527d1ff..40ea0319769 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libsets.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libsets.tex
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ an argument.
 
 Also note, the module also includes a \method{union_update()} method
 which is an alias for \method{update()}.  The method is included for
-backwards compatability.  Programmers should prefer the
-\method{update()} method because it the one supported by the builtin
+backwards compatibility.  Programmers should prefer the
+\method{update()} method because it is the one supported by the builtin
 \class{set()} and \class{frozenset()} types.
 
 \subsection{Example \label{set-example}}
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ on lessons learned from the \module{sets} module.  The key differences are:
 \item The built-in versions have more space efficient pickles.
 \item The built-in versions do not have a \method{union_update()} method.
       Instead, use the \method{update()} method which is equivalent.
-\item The built-in versions do not have a \method{_repr(sort=True)} method.
+\item The built-in versions do not have a \method{_repr(sorted=True)} method.
       Instead, use the built-in \function{repr()} and \function{sorted()}
       functions:  \code{repr(sorted(s))}.
 \item The built-in version does not have a protocol for automatic conversion
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew25.tex b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew25.tex
index 2e49e211b37..33db0e8140b 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew25.tex
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew25.tex
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ Also, constants named \member{os.SEEK_SET}, \member{os.SEEK_CUR}, and
 \function{os.lseek()} function.
 
 \item The \class{TarFile} class in the \module{tarfile} module now has
-a \method{extractall()} method that extracts all members from the
+an \method{extractall()} method that extracts all members from the
 archive into the current working directory.  It's also possible to set
 a different directory as the extraction target, and to unpack only a
 subset of the archive's members.  (Contributed by Lars Gust\"abel.)
diff --git a/Include/objimpl.h b/Include/objimpl.h
index 5707e500eef..40b730c4140 100644
--- a/Include/objimpl.h
+++ b/Include/objimpl.h
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ PyAPI_FUNC(void) _PyObject_DebugMallocStats(void);
 #else	/* ! WITH_PYMALLOC */
 #define PyObject_MALLOC		PyMem_MALLOC
 #define PyObject_REALLOC	PyMem_REALLOC
-/* This is an odd one!  For backward compatability with old extensions, the
+/* This is an odd one!  For backward compatibility with old extensions, the
    PyMem "release memory" functions have to invoke the object allocator's
    free() function.  When pymalloc isn't enabled, that leaves us using
    the platform free(). */
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/ChangeLog b/Lib/idlelib/ChangeLog
index a409c60893b..985871bee7c 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/ChangeLog
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/ChangeLog
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ IDLEfork ChangeLog
 
 2001-07-12 16:54  elguavas
 
-	* ReplaceDialog.py: py-cvs merge, python 1.5.2 compatability
+	* ReplaceDialog.py: py-cvs merge, python 1.5.2 compatibility
 
 2001-07-12 16:46  elguavas
 
diff --git a/Lib/plat-mac/aetypes.py b/Lib/plat-mac/aetypes.py
index c60b39c7cb2..65b59ad0ca1 100644
--- a/Lib/plat-mac/aetypes.py
+++ b/Lib/plat-mac/aetypes.py
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ def IsObjectSpecifier(x):
     return isinstance(x, ObjectSpecifier)
 
 
-# Backwards compatability, sigh...
+# Backwards compatibility, sigh...
 class Property(ObjectSpecifier):
 
     def __init__(self, which, fr = None, want='prop'):
diff --git a/Lib/plat-mac/macostools.py b/Lib/plat-mac/macostools.py
index 06bc92fe5df..f7ce468263f 100644
--- a/Lib/plat-mac/macostools.py
+++ b/Lib/plat-mac/macostools.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 try:
     openrf = MacOS.openrf
 except AttributeError:
-    # Backward compatability
+    # Backward compatibility
     openrf = open
 
 Error = 'macostools.Error'
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index fc7500bcc07..f726589a516 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ Library
 - The decimal package's Context.copy() method now returns deep copies.
 
 - Deprecated sys.exitfunc in favor of the atexit module.  The sys.exitfunc
-  attribute will be kept around for backwards compatability and atexit
+  attribute will be kept around for backwards compatibility and atexit
   will just become the one preferred way to do it.
 
 - patch #675551: Add get_history_item and replace_history_item functions
diff --git a/Modules/cjkcodecs/_codecs_jp.c b/Modules/cjkcodecs/_codecs_jp.c
index 5ff94940ca3..860a979f87d 100644
--- a/Modules/cjkcodecs/_codecs_jp.c
+++ b/Modules/cjkcodecs/_codecs_jp.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ ENCODER(cp932)
 			continue;
 		}
 		else if (c >= 0xf8f0 && c <= 0xf8f3) {
-			/* Windows compatability */
+			/* Windows compatibility */
 			REQUIRE_OUTBUF(1)
 			if (c == 0xf8f0)
 				OUT1(0xa0)