diff --git a/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py b/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
index 3358d633fb5c2cffd635c5c69730061b09e28b27..a7c1b841ed05b3cd527653c2cc9ec3e5cc8d3b63 100644
--- a/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
+++ b/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
@@ -92,10 +92,16 @@ class ElementGroupBase(object):
 
     @property
     def nunit_dofs(self):
+        """The number of (for now: nodal) degrees of freedom associated with a
+        single element.
+        """
         return self.unit_nodes.shape[-1]
 
     @property
     def ndofs(self):
+        """The total number of (for now: nodal) degrees of freedom associated with
+        the element group.
+        """
         return self.nunit_dofs * self.nelements
 
     @property