-clinic Also -cline and -clinal.

Oblique, reclining, at an angle.

[Greek klinein, to slope.]

An isoclinic line on a map connects points where the dip of the earth's magnetic field is the same (Greek isos, equal); a monoclinic crystal (Greek monos, alone) has three unequal axes, one of which is inclined to the others at an angle, so it has only one plane of symmetry. The ending -cline forms nouns: anticline, a ridge or fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope downwards from the crest; monocline, a bend in rock strata that are otherwise uniformly dipping or horizontal. Such nouns have associated adjectives in -clinal: anticlinal.

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