lignite Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun intermediate between peat and bituminous coal
    brown coal; wood coal.

WordNet

Lig"nite noun
Etymology
L. lignum wood: cf. F. lignite.
Definitions
  1. (Min.) Mineral coal retaining the texture of the wood from which it was formed, and burning with an empyreumatic odor. It is of more recent origin than the anthracite and bituminous coal of the proper coal series. Called also brown coal, wood coal.

Webster 1913