Limonite has been used by people since prehistoric times. Their first use of limonite was probably as a pigment. It is found in many Neolithic pictographs, and throughout history it has been one of the most important pigments for creating paints in the yellow to brown color range known as ocher. Its use as a pigment continues today. It can sometimes be used directly from the deposit with minimal processing, but it is often heat treated to drive off water, simplify the production of a powder, and improve color.

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Limonite has been used as a low-quality iron ore for thousands of years. Commercial mining of limonite as a source of iron is no longer done in areas where reasonable deposits of hematite and magnetite are present or readily imported. Limonite deposits are usually too small and too impure for use in modern metallurgy.

Names such as “brown iron,” “brown hematite,” “bog iron,” and “brown ocher” have been used by miners to relate limonite with its potential uses. Their use has declined significantly, and the name “limonite” is now used for these various materials.