The building blocks of English

Affixes

ligno-

Also ligni‑.

Wood.

Latin lignum, wood.

The adjective ligneous refers to something consisting of or resembling wood; lignite is a soft brownish coal that still shows traces of plant structure; lignin is a complex organic polymer deposited in the cell walls of many plants, making them rigid and woody; lignocellulose is a complex of lignin and cellulose present in the cell walls of woody plants; the local anaesthetic lignocaine was named to indicate its chemical similarity to xylene. See also xylo‑.