lignite

What it means

1. countableuncountableA low-grade, brownish-black coal.

   Texas industry is turning to lignite, a kind of poor man's coal, to replace its dwindling allocations of natural gas. The Lone Star State now gets an estimated 12 percent of its electricity from lignite, and that figure is expected to double by 1985.

   1978 February 14, “Texas Turning to Its Reserves of Lignite”, in New York Times

   1 more example

   [Robert] Habeck, who has found himself in the extremely uncomfortable position of turning from a long-term campaigner against fossil fuels to a short-term defender of them, said: “Putin’s war of aggression is forcing us to temporarily make greater use of lignite so that we save gas in electricity generation. This is painful but necessary in view of the shortage of gas.”

   2023 January 10, Kate Connolly, “Climate activists ‘prepared to risk lives’ to stop German coalmine”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: brown coal, dirty coal, Bovey coal

In a sentence

Texas industry is turning to lignite, a kind of poor man's coal, to replace its dwindling allocations of natural gas. The Lone Star State now gets an estimated 12 percent of its electricity from lignite, and that figure is expected to double by 1985.

1978 February 14, “Texas Turning to Its Reserves of Lignite”, in New York Times

Where it comes from

1. Frenchlignite
2. Englishlignite

From French lignite, from Latin lignum (“firewood”) + -ite.