Etymograph

English

lignite

Lignite comes from Latin lignum ‘firewood’, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-no-m ‘that which is collected’, and ultimately from *leǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to collect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-no-m1‘that which is collected’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*legnom1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElignum2‘firewood’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentlignite3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1978lignite3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lignum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French lignite
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English lignite
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Texas Turning to Its Reserves of Lignite: “Texas industry is turning to lignite, a kind of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, Latin lignum‘to collect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-no-mWiktionary, Latin lignum‘that which is collected’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*legnomWiktionary, Latin lignumreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElignumWiktionary, French lignite‘firewood’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentligniteWiktionary, English lignite
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1978ligniteWiktionary, English lignite. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Texas Turning to Its Reserves of Lignite: “Texas industry is turning to lignite, a kind of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect’

election, collection, technology, lesson, select, collect, logic, apology, elect, elegant, eligible, catalogue, legion, trilogy, sociology, coil, analogy, elite, physiology, pathology, terminology, logos, astrology, negligence, monologue, leach, prologue, pathologist, epilogue, archaeologist, logistic, lexicon, negligible, eulogy, negligent, cosmology, lexical, cull, etymology, diligent, 173 more

Today it means

noun A low-grade, brownish-black coal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lignite”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin lignum, French lignite. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / lignite

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