limonite Min.
(ˈlaɪmənaɪt)
[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 limoˈnitic a., consisting of or resembling limonite (Cent. Dict.).