Etched Mongol Lagoon

German ätzen, to etch — past-participle of etch. As a color modifier, etched implies a clear-and-precisely-incised quality, the crisp color of Rembrandt-and-Dürer hand-pulled etching-print fine-line incised-image. Sits at the crisp-and-incised end of the grid, parallel to engraved and inscribed in usage.

Mongolian Mongɣol, Mongol. As a color modifier, mongol implies a steppe-and-Khanate quality, the visual register of Mongol-Khanate-of-Genghis Central-Asian steppe-Empire hand-built ger-and-mounted-cavalry-and-felt-rug-and-Khan-court surfaces under Karakorum-and-Mongolian-steppe Khanate-and-mounted-cavalry open-sky light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to tatar and hun in usage.

A shallow body of saltwater partially or fully enclosed by a barrier — coral atoll lagoons in the Pacific, Venice's Laguna Veneta, the Florida Keys' backcountry. The color refers to the average reflectance of a calm tropical lagoon at midday: a saturated, slightly muted blue-green with the optical clarity of shallow water over white sand. Brighter than reef, cooler than aquamarine, with the postcard weight of a Pacific atoll seen from above.