lign-

1. variant of ligni- before a vowel:

   lignite.

Example Sentences

But neither the Queen nor these new towers took the least notice, and gradually the boat came out of that dim cave and entered Fairyland, while the river became so narrow that you could hear the song of the towers quite easily; those on the right bank sang the first verse, and those on the left bank answered:— Drop, drop from the leaves of lign aloes, O honey-dew! drop from the tree.

From Project Gutenberg

Roland, mortally wounded, lay himself down under a pine-tree, with his face turned towards Spain and the enemy— 'De plusurs choses � remembrer li prist, De tantes teres cume li bers cunquist, De dulce France, des humes de sun lign, De Carlemagne sun seignor ki l'nurrit.'

From Project Gutenberg

The tents of Jacob As valleys spread, As goodly cedars, Or fair lign aloes, white and red, Shall share thy wilderness.

From Project Gutenberg

“Wax.” 311-1 The Spanish here is linaloe, but the reference seems to be to the medicinal aloes and not to lign aloes.

From Project Gutenberg

On lign aloes, see Columbus’s Journal, November 12, and note. 311-2 The myrobolan is an East Indian fruit with a stone, of the prune genus.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use lign-

What does lign- mean?

Lign– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “wood.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology.

Lign– comes from Latin lignum, meaning “wood.” A Greek translation is hȳ́lē, meaning “wood” or “matter,” as in the substance of the universe, source of the combining form hylo–. Another Greek-based combining form meaning “wood” is xylo–. To learn more, check out our Words That Use article on the forms.

What are variants of lign-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a consonant, lign– becomes ligni–, as in lignify, or ligno–, as in lignocaine. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on ligni– and ligno-.

Examples of lign-

One scientific term that features the form lign– is lignin, “an organic substance that, with cellulose, forms the chief part of woody tissue.”

Lign– means “wood,” as we have already seen. The second part of the word, –in, is used to denote chemicals. Lignin literally means “wood chemical.”

What are some words that use the combining form lign-?

• ligneous (using the equivalent form of lign– in Latin)
• lignite
• lignum (using the equivalent form of lign– in Latin)
• lignum vitae (using the equivalent form of lign– in Latin)

What are some other forms that lign– may be commonly confused with?

• glio-
• linguo-
• -ling

Break it down!

The suffix –eous means “resembling, having the nature of.” With this in mind, what does ligneous mean?