diff --git a/src/lib/components/modals/JSONEditorModal.svelte b/src/lib/components/modals/JSONEditorModal.svelte
index 24a3612c..edc0b7da 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/modals/JSONEditorModal.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/modals/JSONEditorModal.svelte
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 
   $: currentState = last(stack) || rootState
   $: absolutePath = stack.flatMap((state) => state.relativePath)
-  $: pathDescription = !isEmpty(absolutePath) ? stringifyJSONPath(absolutePath) : '(whole document)'
+  $: pathDescription = !isEmpty(absolutePath) ? stringifyJSONPath(absolutePath) : '(document root)'
 
   // not relevant in this Modal setting, but well
   $: parseMemoizeOne = memoizeOne(parser.parse)
diff --git a/src/lib/components/modals/SortModal.svelte b/src/lib/components/modals/SortModal.svelte
index 6830ffc2..d748586d 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/modals/SortModal.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/modals/SortModal.svelte
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
               type="text"
               readonly
               title="Selected path"
-              value={!isEmpty(rootPath) ? stringifyJSONPath(rootPath) : '(whole document)'}
+              value={!isEmpty(rootPath) ? stringifyJSONPath(rootPath) : '(document root)'}
             />
           </td>
         </tr>
diff --git a/src/lib/components/modals/TransformModal.svelte b/src/lib/components/modals/TransformModal.svelte
index 214a7afc..229c4775 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/modals/TransformModal.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/modals/TransformModal.svelte
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@
             type="text"
             readonly
             title="Selected path"
-            value={!isEmpty(rootPath) ? stringifyJSONPath(rootPath) : '(whole document)'}
+            value={!isEmpty(rootPath) ? stringifyJSONPath(rootPath) : '(document root)'}
           />
 
           <div class="jse-label">
diff --git a/src/lib/logic/selection.ts b/src/lib/logic/selection.ts
index e54cef62..9c3d0fe6 100644
--- a/src/lib/logic/selection.ts
+++ b/src/lib/logic/selection.ts
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ export function updateSelectionInDocumentState(
 }
 
 /**
- * Create a selection which selects the whole document
+ * Create a selection which selects the root of the document
  */
 // TODO: write unit tests
 export function selectAll(): JSONSelection {
diff --git a/src/lib/plugins/query/javascriptQueryLanguage.ts b/src/lib/plugins/query/javascriptQueryLanguage.ts
index 6ec47223..a2b57b78 100644
--- a/src/lib/plugins/query/javascriptQueryLanguage.ts
+++ b/src/lib/plugins/query/javascriptQueryLanguage.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function createQuery(json: JSONValue, queryOptions: QueryLanguageOptions): strin
     // and use that when building the query to make it more readable.
     if (projection.paths.length > 1) {
       const paths = projection.paths.map((path) => {
-        const name = path[path.length - 1] || 'item' // 'item' in case of having selected the whole item
+        const name = path[path.length - 1] || 'item' // 'item' in case of having selected the item root
         const item = `item${createPropertySelector(path)}`
         return `      ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${item}`
       })
diff --git a/src/lib/plugins/query/jmespathQueryLanguage.ts b/src/lib/plugins/query/jmespathQueryLanguage.ts
index 08d447ca..6c857a08 100644
--- a/src/lib/plugins/query/jmespathQueryLanguage.ts
+++ b/src/lib/plugins/query/jmespathQueryLanguage.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ function createQuery(json: JSONValue, queryOptions: QueryLanguageOptions): strin
 
       query +=
         path.length === 0
-          ? '' // edge case, selecting projection of "whole item"
+          ? '' // edge case, selecting projection of the item root
           : '.' + stringifyPathForJmespath(path)
     } else if (projection.paths.length > 1) {
       query +=
diff --git a/src/lib/plugins/query/lodashQueryLanguage.ts b/src/lib/plugins/query/lodashQueryLanguage.ts
index ec70d2dd..3de07124 100644
--- a/src/lib/plugins/query/lodashQueryLanguage.ts
+++ b/src/lib/plugins/query/lodashQueryLanguage.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ function createQuery(json: JSONValue, queryOptions: QueryLanguageOptions): strin
     if (projection.paths.length > 1) {
       // Note that we do not use _.pick() here because this function doesn't flatten the results
       const paths = projection.paths.map((path) => {
-        const name = last(path) || 'item' // 'item' in case of having selected the whole item
+        const name = last(path) || 'item' // 'item' in case of having selected the item root
         return `      ${JSON.stringify(name)}: item${createPropertySelector(path)}`
       })
       queryParts.push(`    .map(item => ({\n${paths.join(',\n')}\n    }))\n`)
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.test.ts b/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.test.ts
index 2f2f0abd..ae4f6b67 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.test.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ describe('pathUtils', () => {
   })
 
   test('pathToOption', () => {
-    deepStrictEqual(pathToOption([]), { value: [], label: '(whole item)' })
+    deepStrictEqual(pathToOption([]), { value: [], label: '(item root)' })
     deepStrictEqual(pathToOption(['users', '2', 'first name']), {
       value: ['users', '2', 'first name'],
       label: 'users[2].first name'
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.ts b/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.ts
index 471ca3ce..62a863d5 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/pathUtils.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ export function parseJSONPath(pathStr: string): JSONPath {
 export function pathToOption(path: JSONPath): { value: JSONPath; label: string } {
   return {
     value: path,
-    label: isEmpty(path) ? '(whole item)' : stringifyJSONPath(path)
+    label: isEmpty(path) ? '(item root)' : stringifyJSONPath(path)
   }
 }