diff --git a/doc/man1/x509.pod b/doc/man1/x509.pod
index 547da5da23683..641436fd233f3 100644
--- a/doc/man1/x509.pod
+++ b/doc/man1/x509.pod
@@ -578,7 +578,8 @@ Dump any field whose OID is not recognised by OpenSSL.
 B<sep_multiline>
 
 These options determine the field separators. The first character is
-between RDNs and the second between multiple AVAs (multiple AVAs are
+between Relative Distinguished Names (RDNs) and the second is between 
+multiple Attribute Value Assertions (AVAs, multiple AVAs are
 very rare and their use is discouraged). The options ending in
 "space" additionally place a space after the separator to make it
 more readable. The B<sep_multiline> uses a linefeed character for