diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy-term.tpl.php b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy-term.tpl.php
index b1ff20e..d7b12ad 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy-term.tpl.php
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy-term.tpl.php
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
  *
  * Available variables:
  * - $name: the (sanitized) name of the term.
- * - $content: An array of items for the content of the term (fields and
- *   description). Use render($content) to print them all, or print a subset
+ * - $content: An array of items for the content of the term (fields).
+ *   Use render($content) to print them all, or print a subset
  *   such as render($content['field_example']). Use
  *   hide($content['field_example']) to temporarily suppress the printing of a
  *   given element.
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.admin.inc b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.admin.inc
index bf8a528..66679c2 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.admin.inc
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.admin.inc
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ function taxonomy_form_vocabulary($form, &$form_state, $edit = array()) {
     $defaults = array(
       'name' => '',
       'machine_name' => '',
-      'description' => '',
       'hierarchy' => TAXONOMY_HIERARCHY_DISABLED,
+      'description' => '',
       'weight' => 0,
     );
     foreach ($defaults as $key => $value) {
@@ -654,8 +654,6 @@ function taxonomy_form_term($form, &$form_state, $edit = array(), $vocabulary =
     }
     $defaults = array(
       'name' => '',
-      'description' => '',
-      'format' => NULL,
       'vocabulary_machine_name' => isset($vocabulary) ? $vocabulary->machine_name : NULL,
       'tid' => NULL,
       'weight' => 0,
@@ -687,13 +685,6 @@ function taxonomy_form_term($form, &$form_state, $edit = array(), $vocabulary =
     '#required' => TRUE,
     '#weight' => -5,
   );
-  $form['description'] = array(
-    '#type' => 'text_format',
-    '#title' => t('Description'),
-    '#default_value' => $term->description,
-    '#format' => $term->format,
-    '#weight' => 0,
-  );
 
   $form['vocabulary_machine_name'] = array(
     '#type' => 'value',
@@ -850,10 +841,6 @@ function taxonomy_form_term_submit_build_taxonomy_term($form, &$form_state) {
   $term = $form_state['term'];
   entity_form_submit_build_entity('taxonomy_term', $term, $form, $form_state);
 
-  // Convert text_format field into values expected by taxonomy_term_save().
-  $description = $form_state['values']['description'];
-  $term->description = $description['value'];
-  $term->format = $description['format'];
   return $term;
 }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.css b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.css
index 36cd641..fcfef82 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.css
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.css
@@ -8,6 +8,3 @@ tr.taxonomy-term-divider-top {
 tr.taxonomy-term-divider-bottom {
   border-top: 1px dotted #CCC;
 }
-.taxonomy-term-description {
-  margin: 5px 0 20px;
-}
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.install b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.install
index 3e07259..d7984a8 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.install
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.install
@@ -47,19 +47,6 @@ function taxonomy_schema() {
         'description' => 'The term name.',
         'translatable' => TRUE,
       ),
-      'description' => array(
-        'type' => 'text',
-        'not null' => FALSE,
-        'size' => 'big',
-        'description' => 'A description of the term.',
-        'translatable' => TRUE,
-      ),
-      'format' => array(
-        'type' => 'varchar',
-        'length' => 255,
-        'not null' => FALSE,
-        'description' => 'The {filter_format}.format of the description.',
-      ),
       'weight' => array(
         'type' => 'int',
         'not null' => TRUE,
@@ -245,4 +232,79 @@ function taxonomy_field_schema($field) {
  */
 function taxonomy_update_8000() {
   db_drop_field('taxonomy_vocabulary', 'module');
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create new field for term descriptions.
+ */
+function taxonomy_update_8001() {
+  $vocabularies = taxonomy_vocabulary_load_multiple(FALSE);
+  if (count($vocabularies)) {
+    // Create a new term description field..
+    $field = array(
+      'field_name' => 'taxonomy_term_description',
+      'type' => 'text_long',
+      'entity_types' => array('taxonomy_term'),
+    );
+    field_create_field($field);
+
+    // Create instances for existing vocabularies.
+    foreach ($vocabularies as $vocabulary) {
+      // Attaches the description field to each bundle.
+      $instance = array(
+        'field_name' => 'taxonomy_term_description',
+        'label' => 'Description',
+        'entity_type' => 'taxonomy_term',
+        'bundle' => $vocabulary->machine_name,
+        'settings' => array('text_processing' => 1),
+        'display' => array(
+          'default' => array(
+            'label' => 'hidden',
+            'type' => 'text_default',
+            'weight' => 0,
+          ),
+        ),
+      );
+      field_create_instance($instance);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Move term descriptions in {term_data}.description into new field.
+ */
+function taxonomy_update_8002(&$sandbox) {
+  if (!isset($sandbox['progress'])) {
+    $sandbox['progress'] = 0;
+    $sandbox['current_tid'] = 0;
+    $sandbox['max'] = db_query('SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT tid) FROM {taxonomy_term_data}')->fetchField();
+  }
+
+  $terms = db_select('taxonomy_term_data', 't')
+    ->fields('t', array('tid', 'description', 'format'))
+    ->condition('tid', $sandbox['current_tid'], '>')
+    ->range(0, 100)
+    ->orderBy('tid', 'ASC')
+    ->execute();
+
+  foreach ($terms as $term) {
+    $description = $term->description;
+    $format = $term->format;
+    $term = taxonomy_term_load($term->tid);
+    $term->taxonomy_term_description['und'][0]['value'] = $description;
+    $term->taxonomy_term_description['und'][0]['format'] = $format;
+    taxonomy_term_save($term);
+    $sandbox['progress']++;
+    $sandbox['current_tid'] = $term->tid;
+  }
+
+  $sandbox['#finished'] = empty($sandbox['max']) ? 1 : ($sandbox['progress'] / $sandbox['max']);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Remove {term_data}.description and {term_data}.format.
+ */
+function taxonomy_update_8003() {
+  db_drop_field('taxonomy_term_data', 'description');
+  db_drop_field('taxonomy_term_data', 'format');
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
index 3a9258b..66e62eb 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -177,18 +177,6 @@ function taxonomy_field_extra_fields() {
           'description' => t('Term name textfield'),
           'weight' => -5,
         ),
-        'description' => array(
-          'label' => t('Description'),
-          'description' => t('Term description textarea'),
-          'weight' => 0,
-        ),
-      ),
-      'display' => array(
-        'description' => array(
-          'label' => t('Description'),
-          'description' => t('Term description'),
-          'weight' => 0,
-        ),
       ),
     );
   }
@@ -616,8 +604,6 @@ function taxonomy_check_vocabulary_hierarchy($vocabulary, $changed_term) {
  *   - name: The name of the term.
  *   - tid: (optional) The unique ID for the term being saved. If $term->tid is
  *     empty or omitted, a new term will be inserted.
- *   - description: (optional) The term's description.
- *   - format: (optional) The text format for the term's description.
  *   - weight: (optional) The weight of this term in relation to other terms
  *     within the same vocabulary.
  *   - parent: (optional) The parent term(s) for this term. This can be a single
@@ -804,16 +790,6 @@ function taxonomy_term_view($term, $view_mode = 'full', $langcode = NULL) {
 
   $build += field_attach_view('taxonomy_term', $term, $view_mode, $langcode);
 
-  // Add term description if the term has one.
-  if (!empty($term->description)) {
-    $build['description'] = array(
-      '#markup' => check_markup($term->description, $term->format, '', TRUE),
-      '#weight' => 0,
-      '#prefix' => '<div class="taxonomy-term-description">',
-      '#suffix' => '</div>',
-    );
-  }
-
   $build['#attached']['css'][] = drupal_get_path('module', 'taxonomy') . '/taxonomy.css';
 
   // Allow modules to modify the structured term.
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
index e1b47a9..96c9c03 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ function taxonomy_term_page($term) {
 function taxonomy_term_feed($term) {
   $channel['link'] = url('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid, array('absolute' => TRUE));
   $channel['title'] = variable_get('site_name', 'Drupal') . ' - ' . $term->name;
-  // Only display the description if we have a single term, to avoid clutter and confusion.
-  // HTML will be removed from feed description.
-  $channel['description'] = check_markup($term->description, $term->format, '', TRUE);
   $nids = taxonomy_select_nodes($term->tid, FALSE, variable_get('feed_default_items', 10));
 
   node_feed($nids, $channel);
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
index 0ef4758..b551172 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@ class TaxonomyWebTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
   function createTerm($vocabulary) {
     $term = new stdClass();
     $term->name = $this->randomName();
-    $term->description = $this->randomName();
-    // Use the first available text format.
-    $term->format = db_query_range('SELECT format FROM {filter_format}', 0, 1)->fetchField();
     $term->vid = $vocabulary->vid;
     taxonomy_term_save($term);
     return $term;
@@ -722,7 +719,6 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
   function testTermInterface() {
     $edit = array(
       'name' => $this->randomName(12),
-      'description[value]' => $this->randomName(100),
     );
     // Explicitly set the parents field to 'root', to ensure that
     // taxonomy_form_term_submit() handles the invalid term ID correctly.
@@ -744,11 +740,9 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     $this->clickLink(t('edit'));
 
     $this->assertRaw($edit['name'], t('The randomly generated term name is present.'));
-    $this->assertText($edit['description[value]'], t('The randomly generated term description is present.'));
 
     $edit = array(
       'name' => $this->randomName(14),
-      'description[value]' => $this->randomName(102),
     );
 
     // Edit the term.
@@ -762,15 +756,6 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     // View the term and check that it is correct.
     $this->drupalGet('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid);
     $this->assertText($edit['name'], t('The randomly generated term name is present.'));
-    $this->assertText($edit['description[value]'], t('The randomly generated term description is present.'));
-
-    // Did this page request display a 'term-listing-heading'?
-    $this->assertPattern('|class="taxonomy-term-description"|', 'Term page displayed the term description element.');
-    // Check that it does NOT show a description when description is blank.
-    $term->description = '';
-    taxonomy_term_save($term);
-    $this->drupalGet('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid);
-    $this->assertNoPattern('|class="taxonomy-term-description"|', 'Term page did not display the term description when description was blank.');
 
     // Check that the term feed page is working.
     $this->drupalGet('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid . '/feed');
@@ -857,7 +842,6 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     // Add a new term with multiple parents.
     $edit = array(
       'name' => $this->randomName(12),
-      'description[value]' => $this->randomName(100),
       'parent[]' => array(0, $parent->tid),
     );
     // Save the new term.
@@ -868,7 +852,6 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     $term = reset($terms);
     $this->assertNotNull($term, t('Term found in database'));
     $this->assertEqual($edit['name'], $term->name, t('Term name was successfully saved.'));
-    $this->assertEqual($edit['description[value]'], $term->description, t('Term description was successfully saved.'));
     // Check that the parent tid is still there. The other parent (<root>) is
     // not added by taxonomy_term_load_parents().
     $parents = taxonomy_term_load_parents($term->tid);
@@ -1587,7 +1570,6 @@ class TaxonomyTokenReplaceTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     $tests = array();
     $tests['[term:tid]'] = $term1->tid;
     $tests['[term:name]'] = check_plain($term1->name);
-    $tests['[term:description]'] = check_markup($term1->description, $term1->format);
     $tests['[term:url]'] = url('taxonomy/term/' . $term1->tid, array('absolute' => TRUE));
     $tests['[term:node-count]'] = 0;
     $tests['[term:parent:name]'] = '[term:parent:name]';
@@ -1602,7 +1584,6 @@ class TaxonomyTokenReplaceTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     $tests = array();
     $tests['[term:tid]'] = $term2->tid;
     $tests['[term:name]'] = check_plain($term2->name);
-    $tests['[term:description]'] = check_markup($term2->description, $term2->format);
     $tests['[term:url]'] = url('taxonomy/term/' . $term2->tid, array('absolute' => TRUE));
     $tests['[term:node-count]'] = 1;
     $tests['[term:parent:name]'] = check_plain($term1->name);
@@ -1620,7 +1601,6 @@ class TaxonomyTokenReplaceTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
 
     // Generate and test unsanitized tokens.
     $tests['[term:name]'] = $term2->name;
-    $tests['[term:description]'] = $term2->description;
     $tests['[term:parent:name]'] = $term1->name;
     $tests['[term:vocabulary:name]'] = $this->vocabulary->name;
 
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.tokens.inc b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.tokens.inc
index 24d7bc8..ecd4219 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.tokens.inc
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.tokens.inc
@@ -29,10 +29,6 @@ function taxonomy_token_info() {
     'name' => t("Name"),
     'description' => t("The name of the taxonomy term."),
   );
-  $term['description'] = array(
-    'name' => t("Description"),
-    'description' => t("The optional description of the taxonomy term."),
-  );
   $term['node-count'] = array(
     'name' => t("Node count"),
     'description' => t("The number of nodes tagged with the taxonomy term."),
@@ -105,10 +101,6 @@ function taxonomy_tokens($type, $tokens, array $data = array(), array $options =
           $replacements[$original] = $sanitize ? check_plain($term->name) : $term->name;
           break;
 
-        case 'description':
-          $replacements[$original] = $sanitize ? check_markup($term->description, $term->format, '', TRUE) : $term->description;
-          break;
-
         case 'url':
           $uri = entity_uri('taxonomy_term', $term);
           $replacements[$original] = url($uri['path'], array_merge($uri['options'], array('absolute' => TRUE)));