diff --git a/lib/rake/application.rb b/lib/rake/application.rb
index c86cb1fa2..4cd8420cf 100644
--- a/lib/rake/application.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/application.rb
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def init(app_name="rake", argv = ARGV)
         begin
           args = handle_options argv
         rescue ArgumentError
-          # Backword compatibility for capistrano
+          # Backward compatibility for capistrano
           args = handle_options
         end
         collect_command_line_tasks(args)