alternate -> alternative.
diff --git a/Doc/library/decimal.rst b/Doc/library/decimal.rst
index 2dcd445..3cbf091 100644
--- a/Doc/library/decimal.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/decimal.rst
@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@
The usual approach to working with decimals is to create :class:`Decimal`
instances and then apply arithmetic operations which take place within the
-current context for the active thread. An alternate approach is to use context
+current context for the active thread. An alternative approach is to use context
methods for calculating within a specific context. The methods are similar to
those for the :class:`Decimal` class and are only briefly recounted here.