Derivational etymology, requiring one formal change, from /i/ to /o/, while the consonantal structure is kept. The idea is that in the turmoil of battle the situation is unstable and can "lean". The etymology is found in both the A and T scholia. The b branch of the bT Scholia (κλόνος ἡ μάχη, ἐν ᾗ κλονοῦνται οἱ πολεμοῦντες, Schol. Il. 21.422a2) transmits a modified version of this etymology, in which κλίνεται was corrected to κλονοῦνται, because the original etymology was no longer understood