Wüstite was named after Fritz Wüst (1860–1938), a German metallurgist and founding director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Eisenforschung (presently Max Planck Institute for Iron Research GmbH).

[2] In addition to its type locality in Germany, it has been reported from Disko Island, Greenland; the Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand, India; and as inclusions in diamonds in a number of kimberlite pipes.

Magnetite is termed a redox buffer because, until all Fe3+ present in the system is converted to Fe2+, the oxide mineral assemblage of iron remains wüstite-magnetite.

Thus, wüstite may only be found in silica-undersaturated compositions which are also heavily chemically reduced, satisfying both the need to remove all Fe3+ and to maintain iron outside of silicate minerals.

Approximately 2–3% of the world's energy budget is allocated to the Haber process for ammonia (NH3) production, which relies on wüstite-derived catalysts.

The pulverized iron metal is burnt (oxidized) to give magnetite or wüstite of a defined particle size.

[3][4] According to Vagn Fabritius Buchwald, wüstite was an important component during the Iron Age to facilitate the process of forge welding.

This produced an effective flux that shielded the metal from oxygen and helped extract oxides and impurities, leaving a pure surface that can weld readily.

Wüstite in dolomite skarns may be related to siderite (iron(II) carbonate), wollastonite, enstatite, diopside, and magnesite.