lignite

L1I1G2N1I1T1E1
/ˈlɪɡnaɪ̯t/

noun

A low-grade, brownish-black coal.

Meanings

lignite1

nounlignite (countable and uncountable, plural lignites)

plural lignites

  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

Lignite2

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA low-grade, brownish-black coal.

More synonyms by meaning

nounintermediate between peat and bituminous coal

Similar
brown coalwood coal
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchlignite
  2. Englishlignite

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans bruinkool, ligniet
  • bruinkoolcoal
  • lignietcoal
Arabic فحم بني
  • فحم بني (faḥm bunniyy)coal
Basque lignito, ikatz arrea
  • lignitocoal
  • ikatz arreacoal
Bengali লিগনাইট
  • লিগনাইট (ligonaiṭ)coal
Bulgarian лигнит
  • лигнит (lignit)coal
Catalan lignit
  • lignitcoal
Chinese Cantonese 褐煤
  • 褐煤 (hot³ mui⁴)coal
Chinese Mandarin 褐煤
  • 褐煤coal
Czech hnědé uhlí, lignit
  • hnědé uhlícoal
  • lignitcoal
Danish brunkul
  • brunkulcoal
Dutch bruinkool
  • bruinkoolcoal
Esperanto lignito
  • lignitocoal
Estonian pruunsüsi
  • pruunsüsicoal
Finnish ruskohiili
  • ruskohiilicoal
French lignite
  • lignitecoal
German Braunkohle
  • Braunkohlecoal
Greek λιγνίτης
  • λιγνίτης (lignítis)coal
Hebrew ליגניט
  • ליגניט (lignit)coal
Hindi लिग्नाइट
  • लिग्नाइट (lignāiṭ)coal
Hungarian barnaszén, lignit
  • barnaszéncoal
  • lignitcoal
Icelandic surtarbrandur, brúnkol
  • surtarbrandurcoal
  • brúnkolcoal
Indonesian lignit
  • lignitcoal
Irish gual donn
  • gual donncoal
Italian lignite
  • lignitecoal
Japanese 褐炭, 亜炭
  • 褐炭 (kattan)coal
  • 亜炭 (atan)coal
Korean 갈탄, 아탄
  • 갈탄 (galtan)coal
  • 아탄 (atan)coal
Latin lignitus
  • lignituscoal
Latvian lignīts, brūnogles
  • lignītscoal
  • brūnoglescoal
Lithuanian lignitas, rusvoji anglis
  • lignitascoal
  • rusvoji angliscoal
Norwegian Bokmål brunkull, brunkol
  • brunkullcoal
  • brunkolcoal
Persian زغال قهوهای
  • زغال قهوهای (zoġâl qahve-'i)coal
Polish węgiel brunatny
  • węgiel brunatnycoal
Portuguese linhite, lignite
  • linhitecoal
  • lignitecoal
  • lignitocoal
  • linhitocoal
Romanian lignit, cărbune brun
  • lignitcoal
  • cărbune bruncoal
Russian бу́рый у́голь, лигни́т
  • бу́рый у́голь (búryj úgolʹ)coal
  • лигни́т (lignít)coal
Slovak hnedé uhlie, lignit
  • hnedé uhliecoal
  • lignitcoal
Spanish lignito
  • lignitocoal
Swedish brunkol, lignit
  • brunkolcoal
  • lignitcoal
Thai ลิกไนต์
  • ลิกไนต์ (lík-nai)coal
Turkish linyit
  • linyitcoal
Ukrainian бу́ре вугі́лля, лігні́т
  • бу́ре вугі́лля (búre vuhíllja)coal
  • лігні́т (lihnít)coal
Vietnamese than nâu
  • than nâucoal

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

lignite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lignite

MLA

“lignite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lignite. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lignite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lignite.

Source: lignite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.