Years ago, I read a description of a common error in Esperanto. I have not been able to find this article again, but it called this error "Hidden Elision of the Adjective Ending."
Hidden Elision of the Adjective Ending is when you take the -a off of an adjective and stick it to the front of the noun and pretend that the meaning has not changed. The term comes from this process: if we say bruna urso, we could attempt to elide the -a by saying brun' urso -- but since this is not permitted in Esperanto to have the adjective with no ending, some people will try to "hide" this by pushing the two together: brunurso. Whatever brunurso means, it is not the same as bruna urso.
The word lignoglavo is interesting. This word is found in PIV and defined either as a toy sword for children, or as a special kind of ceremonial Japanese sword. The only use of it in the Tekstaro is in Robinsono Kruso and appears to be a translation of the term "sword of wood". I suspect the Japanese usage is simply a literal translation of 木剣 (bokken). Certainly the swords in Robinson Crusoe are not children's toys since they can take off a man's head.
Certainly this makes sense as glavo el ligno (c.f. lignopeco) but these also strike me as isolated examples. This is another example why ESPDIC is really not a good resource for new Esperanto speakers. I'm told its stated goal is to document all usage - whether good or bad. If you had some other examples, it might be worth discussing those in more detail.
For example:
- Nova edzino - a new wife
- Novedzino - a bride
Usually, the meaning changes when you tack the adjective up front.