In
crystallography, the
monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven lattice
point groups. A crystal system is described by three
vectors. In the monoclinic system, the
crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the
orthorhombic system. They form a rectangular
prism with a
parallelogram as its base. Hence two vectors are perpendicular (meet at right angles), while the third vector meets the other two at an angle other than 90°.