Definition<COAL> is a <SOLID COMPOUND> that is hard, opaque, black, or blackish, found in seams or strata in the earth, and largely used as fuel; it consists of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in former epochs of the world's history
According to the degree of carbonization, coal is divided into three principal kinds, anthracite or glance coal, black or bituminous coal, and brown coal or lignite, in each of which again various qualities are distinguished. Oxford English Dictionary.