Min. [Named by Hausmann, 1813, probably from Gr. λειμών meadow, a rendering of its earlier Ger. name wiesenerz, meadow-ore: see -ITE.] A name at first confined to bog iron ore, but now extended to include all forms of hydrous sesqui-oxide of iron, containing about 15 per cent. of water.
1823. H. J. Brooke, Introd. Crystallogr., 472. Bog, Meadow, &c.; Iron ore, Limonite.
1852. C. U. Shepard, Min. (ed. 3), 276. Limonite occurs in beds and veins.
1879. Rutley, Study Rocks, x. 156. Limonite occurs in stalactitic, mammillated, pisolitic, or earthy, conditions.
attrib. 1874. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 308. A deposit of limonite-iron ore.
Hence Limonitic a., consisting of or resembling limonite (Cent. Dict.).
