diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index f787fe7566..a615237deb 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -267,9 +267,18 @@ declare namespace execa {
 		killed: boolean;
 
 		/**
-		The signal that was used to terminate the process.
+		The name of the signal that was used to terminate the process. For example, `SIGFPE`.
+
+		If a signal terminated the process, this property is defined and included in the error message. Otherwise it is `undefined`.
 		*/
 		signal?: string;
+
+		/**
+		A human-friendly description of the signal that was used to terminate the process. For example, `Floating point arithmetic error`.
+
+		If a signal terminated the process, this property is defined and included in the error message. Otherwise it is `undefined`. It is also `undefined` when the signal is very uncommon which should seldomly happen.
+		*/
+		signalDescription?: string;
 	}
 
 	interface ExecaSyncReturnValue<StdoutErrorType = string>
diff --git a/index.test-d.ts b/index.test-d.ts
index 5729538879..8d5a5fbc86 100644
--- a/index.test-d.ts
+++ b/index.test-d.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ try {
 	expectType<boolean>(unicornsResult.isCanceled);
 	expectType<boolean>(unicornsResult.killed);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(unicornsResult.signal);
+	expectType<string | undefined>(unicornsResult.signalDescription);
 } catch (error) {
 	const execaError: ExecaError = error;
 
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ try {
 	expectType<boolean>(execaError.isCanceled);
 	expectType<boolean>(execaError.killed);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.signal);
+	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.signalDescription);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.originalMessage);
 }
 
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ try {
 	expectError(unicornsResult.isCanceled);
 	expectType<boolean>(unicornsResult.killed);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(unicornsResult.signal);
+	expectType<string | undefined>(unicornsResult.signalDescription);
 } catch (error) {
 	const execaError: ExecaSyncError = error;
 
@@ -66,6 +69,7 @@ try {
 	expectError(execaError.isCanceled);
 	expectType<boolean>(execaError.killed);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.signal);
+	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.signalDescription);
 	expectType<string | undefined>(execaError.originalMessage);
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/error.js b/lib/error.js
index b651823832..808ad4384b 100644
--- a/lib/error.js
+++ b/lib/error.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
-const getErrorPrefix = ({timedOut, timeout, errorCode, signal, exitCode, isCanceled}) => {
+const {signalsByName} = require('human-signals');
+
+const getErrorPrefix = ({timedOut, timeout, errorCode, signal, signalDescription, exitCode, isCanceled}) => {
 	if (timedOut) {
 		return `timed out after ${timeout} milliseconds`;
 	}
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ const getErrorPrefix = ({timedOut, timeout, errorCode, signal, exitCode, isCance
 	}
 
 	if (signal !== undefined) {
-		return `was killed with ${signal}`;
+		return `was killed with ${signal} (${signalDescription})`;
 	}
 
 	if (exitCode !== undefined) {
@@ -40,10 +42,11 @@ const makeError = ({
 	// We normalize them to `undefined`
 	exitCode = exitCode === null ? undefined : exitCode;
 	signal = signal === null ? undefined : signal;
+	const signalDescription = signal === undefined ? undefined : signalsByName[signal].description;
 
 	const errorCode = error && error.code;
 
-	const prefix = getErrorPrefix({timedOut, timeout, errorCode, signal, exitCode, isCanceled});
+	const prefix = getErrorPrefix({timedOut, timeout, errorCode, signal, signalDescription, exitCode, isCanceled});
 	const message = `Command ${prefix}: ${command}`;
 
 	if (error instanceof Error) {
@@ -56,6 +59,7 @@ const makeError = ({
 	error.command = command;
 	error.exitCode = exitCode;
 	error.signal = signal;
+	error.signalDescription = signalDescription;
 	error.stdout = stdout;
 	error.stderr = stderr;
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b87ea38f07..ce8f1a4f5f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 	"dependencies": {
 		"cross-spawn": "^7.0.0",
 		"get-stream": "^5.0.0",
+		"human-signals": "^1.1.1",
 		"is-stream": "^2.0.0",
 		"merge-stream": "^2.0.0",
 		"npm-run-path": "^4.0.0",
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 69cb1fcf53..18f5099318 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -270,7 +270,17 @@ Whether the process was killed.
 
 Type: `string | undefined`
 
-The signal that was used to terminate the process.
+The name of the signal that was used to terminate the process. For example, `SIGFPE`.
+
+If a signal terminated the process, this property is defined and included in the error message. Otherwise it is `undefined`.
+
+#### signalDescription
+
+Type: `string | undefined`
+
+A human-friendly description of the signal that was used to terminate the process. For example, `Floating point arithmetic error`.
+
+If a signal terminated the process, this property is defined and included in the error message. Otherwise it is `undefined`. It is also `undefined` when the signal is very uncommon which should seldomly happen.
 
 #### originalMessage
 
diff --git a/test/error.js b/test/error.js
index a16581342b..7a79312c52 100644
--- a/test/error.js
+++ b/test/error.js
@@ -133,6 +133,15 @@ if (process.platform !== 'win32') {
 		t.is(signal, 'SIGINT');
 	});
 
+	test('error.signalDescription is defined', async t => {
+		const subprocess = execa('noop');
+
+		process.kill(subprocess.pid, 'SIGINT');
+
+		const {signalDescription} = await t.throwsAsync(subprocess, {message: /User interruption with CTRL-C/});
+		t.is(signalDescription, 'User interruption with CTRL-C');
+	});
+
 	test('error.signal is SIGTERM', async t => {
 		const subprocess = execa('noop');
 
@@ -167,6 +176,11 @@ test('result.signal is undefined if process failed, but was not killed', async t
 	t.is(signal, undefined);
 });
 
+test('result.signalDescription is undefined for successful execution', async t => {
+	const {signalDescription} = await execa('noop');
+	t.is(signalDescription, undefined);
+});
+
 test('error.code is undefined on success', async t => {
 	const {code} = await execa('noop');
 	t.is(code, undefined);