Word
cline
US/ˈkɫaɪn/
UK/klˈaɪn/
Definitions
01biological variation
n. a slow change in a physical feature of a species across a large area.
n. a gradation in a character or phenotype within a species or systematic group, typically along a geographical or environmental gradient.
“The birds show a cline in wing length, with longer wings found in the colder north.”
“Ecologists observed a distinct morphological cline in the plant species as they sampled populations at increasing altitudes up the mountain range.”
Academic · Technical
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'in' to describe the specific trait that is changing.
Synonyms
02a gradual scale
n. any range where one thing slowly turns into another without a clear break.
n. a graduated continuum of any quality or state, where boundaries between categories are blurred.
“Linguists often view the difference between dialects as a cline rather than separate languages.”
“The transition from formal to informal register is best understood as a stylistic cline rather than a set of rigid categories.”
Academic
Usage
Frequently used in linguistics and sociology to describe non-binary transitions.
Antonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κλῑ́νω (klī́nō, “to lean, incline”). Introduced by English evolutionary biologist and eugenicist Julian Huxley in 1938 after British mycologist John Ramsbottom suggested the term.
From c(ircle) + line; compare circline.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/cline