We measured x-ray linear dichroism (XLD) at the preedge of the x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) of Ti and of one halogen (Cl) entering into the composition of some Ti-based MXene compounds. Density functional theory allowed us to retrieve the experimental spectra with a satisfying degree of accuracy and was used for deciphering the orbital and electronic anisotropies responsible for the XLD signal. XLD, measured at the $K$ edge of the transition metal, depends on the nature of the MXene surface termination. XLD, measured at the $K$ edge of the halogen termination, depends on the structure of the van der Waals (vdW) stacking between two adjacent MXene layers, so that it could be used as a signature of a given vdW stacking.

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• Chemical bonding
• Crystal phenomena
• Density of states
• Electronic structure
• Layered crystals
• Two-dimensional electron system
• Density functional theory
• X-ray absorption spectroscopy