diff --git a/src/gcd.jl b/src/gcd.jl
index 055c852..6e447b8 100644
--- a/src/gcd.jl
+++ b/src/gcd.jl
@@ -254,14 +254,8 @@ function deflation(p::AbstractPolynomialLike)
     shift_defl = shift_deflation.(p, variables(p))
     shift = getindex.(shift_defl, 1)
     defl = getindex.(shift_defl, 2)
-    s = prod(
-        variables(p) .^ shift;
-        init = constant_monomial(p),
-    )::monomial_type(p)
-    d = prod(
-        variables(p) .^ defl;
-        init = constant_monomial(p),
-    )::monomial_type(p)
+    s = monomial(variables(p), shift)
+    d = monomial(variables(p), defl)
     return s, d
 end
 
diff --git a/src/term.jl b/src/term.jl
index cfaf679..f9cf086 100644
--- a/src/term.jl
+++ b/src/term.jl
@@ -151,6 +151,17 @@ Returns the monomial of the term `t`.
 ### Examples
 
 Calling `monomial` on ``4x^2y`` should return ``x^2y``.
+
+    monomial(variables, exponents)
+
+Returns the monomial corresponding to `prod(variables .^ exponents)`
+
+### Examples
+
+In order to create `x^2 * y`,
+
+* with DynamicPolynomials, use `monomial([x, y], [2, 1])`,
+* with TypedPolynomials, use `monomial((x, y), (2, 1))`.
 """
 function monomial end
 monomial(t::AbstractTerm) = t.monomial # by convention, the field should be `monomial`.