diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index e3c05110e58ca5684f9c43b1e1a5eb2587c96828..b10419a69815ef1c005915f3606c992659e60c77 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ int write_ref_sha1(struct ref_lock *lock,
 	}
 	o = parse_object(sha1);
 	if (!o) {
-		error("Trying to write ref %s with nonexistant object %s",
+		error("Trying to write ref %s with nonexistent object %s",
 			lock->ref_name, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 		unlock_ref(lock);
 		return -1;
diff --git a/t/t3903-stash.sh b/t/t3903-stash.sh
index 5c725406422dcedb6c6d5e5d61cfc80f87d3595c..7197aae1ed10add49aa72748188fecb4c2ef90a4 100755
--- a/t/t3903-stash.sh
+++ b/t/t3903-stash.sh
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ test_expect_success 'stash pop - fail early if specified stash is not a stash re
 	git reset --hard HEAD
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'ref with non-existant reflog' '
+test_expect_success 'ref with non-existent reflog' '
 	git stash clear &&
 	echo bar5 > file &&
 	echo bar6 > file2 &&
diff --git a/t/t4203-mailmap.sh b/t/t4203-mailmap.sh
index e818de6ddd904378265cb11f2d48075cda474f5f..1f182f612c7e2376b503cf0b9cf7389e37903239 100755
--- a/t/t4203-mailmap.sh
+++ b/t/t4203-mailmap.sh
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ nick1 (1):
 
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success 'mailmap.file non-existant' '
+test_expect_success 'mailmap.file non-existent' '
 	rm internal_mailmap/.mailmap &&
 	rmdir internal_mailmap &&
 	git shortlog HEAD >actual &&
diff --git a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
index cb9f2bdd2956244955d56ec8a0cd2320726e1030..2ae9faa8b37821db6e7c28ae3d98e53cb25264b1 100755
--- a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
+++ b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ test_expect_success 'alias user-defined tformat' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'alias non-existant format' '
+test_expect_success 'alias non-existent format' '
 	git config pretty.test-alias format-that-will-never-exist &&
 	test_must_fail git log --pretty=test-alias
 '
diff --git a/t/t5506-remote-groups.sh b/t/t5506-remote-groups.sh
index b7b7ddaa403d7a06c0203b89e484d56d20863f4a..530b01678e5c9cfc1aed2fe2c6fcd96b9a09a90d 100755
--- a/t/t5506-remote-groups.sh
+++ b/t/t5506-remote-groups.sh
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ test_expect_success 'no group updates all' '
 	repo_fetched two
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'nonexistant group produces error' '
-	mark nonexistant &&
+test_expect_success 'nonexistent group produces error' '
+	mark nonexistent &&
 	update_repos &&
-	test_must_fail git remote update nonexistant &&
+	test_must_fail git remote update nonexistent &&
 	! repo_fetched one &&
 	! repo_fetched two
 '
diff --git a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
index d73731e6446f71480db1ec7cceb73f27ad51ecd3..3abb2907ea91c5ef6298ca7ee64b7a8156d65d96 100755
--- a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ test_expect_success 'push with colon-less refspec (4)' '
 
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push head with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+test_expect_success 'push head with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 
 	mk_test &&
 	git push testrepo master:branch &&
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ test_expect_success 'push head with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
 
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push tag with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+test_expect_success 'push tag with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 
 	mk_test &&
 	git tag -f v1.0 &&
@@ -384,14 +384,14 @@ test_expect_success 'push tag with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
 
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push sha1 with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+test_expect_success 'push sha1 with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 
 	mk_test &&
 	test_must_fail git push testrepo `git rev-parse master`:foo
 
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push ref expression with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+test_expect_success 'push ref expression with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 
 	mk_test &&
 	test_must_fail git push testrepo master^:branch
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ test_expect_success 'push with +HEAD' '
 
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push HEAD with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+test_expect_success 'push HEAD with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 
 	mk_test &&
 	git checkout master &&
diff --git a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
index 6b1ba6c858562b7c085951fb1d69d4d2371e866c..2a53640c5b29c19a2327570148638dbf94bc2afa 100755
--- a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
+++ b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
@@ -1893,7 +1893,7 @@ test_expect_success \
     test_cmp marks.out marks.new'
 
 cat >input <<EOF
-feature import-marks=nonexistant.marks
+feature import-marks=nonexistent.marks
 feature export-marks=marks.new
 EOF
 
@@ -1904,7 +1904,7 @@ test_expect_success \
 
 
 cat >input <<EOF
-feature import-marks=nonexistant.marks
+feature import-marks=nonexistent.marks
 feature export-marks=combined.marks
 EOF