diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ec4443ab68c..5059db16cac 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ release.
 
 ### Traces
 
-- Adding environment variables for event and link attribute limits. ([#1751](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1751))
+- Adding environment variables for event and link attribute limits.
+  ([#1751](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1751))
+- Clarify meaning of the Certificate File option.
+  ([#1803](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1803))
 
 ### Metrics
 
diff --git a/specification/protocol/exporter.md b/specification/protocol/exporter.md
index 5d61c1a8238..19cefd80b72 100644
--- a/specification/protocol/exporter.md
+++ b/specification/protocol/exporter.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The following configuration options MUST be available to configure the OTLP expo
 | Configuration Option | Description                                                  | Default           | Env variable                                                 |
 | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
 | Endpoint             | Target to which the exporter is going to send spans or metrics. The endpoint MUST be a valid URL with scheme (http or https) and host, and MAY contain a port and path. A scheme of https indicates a secure connection. When using `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` with OTLP/HTTP, exporters SHOULD follow the collector convention of appending the version and signal to the path (e.g. `v1/traces` or `v1/metrics`). The per-signal endpoint configuration options take precedence and can be used to override this behavior. See the [OTLP Specification][otlphttp-req] for more details. | `https://localhost:4317` | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_ENDPOINT` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_ENDPOINT` |
-| Certificate File     | Path to certificate file for TLS credentials of gRPC client. Should only be used for a secure connection. | n/a               | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_CERTIFICATE` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_CERTIFICATE` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_CERTIFICATE` |
+| Certificate File     | The trusted certificate to use when verifying a server's TLS credentials. Should only be used for a secure connection. | n/a               | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_CERTIFICATE` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_CERTIFICATE` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_CERTIFICATE` |
 | Headers              | Key-value pairs to be used as headers associated with gRPC or HTTP requests. See [Specifying headers](./exporter.md#specifying-headers-via-environment-variables) for more details.                   | n/a               | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_HEADERS` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_HEADERS` |
 | Compression          | Compression key for supported compression types. Supported compression: `gzip`| No value              | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_COMPRESSION` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_COMPRESSION` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_COMPRESSION` |
 | Timeout              | Maximum time the OTLP exporter will wait for each batch export. | 10s               | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_TIMEOUT` `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_TIMEOUT` |