Functional Helm Teal

Latin fūnctiō, performance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, functional implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-utilitarian quality, the crisp color of Mid-Century-Modern and Bauhaus form-follows-function design-aesthetic. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to practical and utilitarian in usage.

Old English helma, helm / steering. As a color modifier, helm implies a steering-wheel-and-tiller quality, the visual register of Royal-Navy-and-merchant-marine-helm hand-built steering-wheel-and-tiller polished-mahogany-and-brass nautical-helm-and-binnacle surfaces under polished-mahogany-and-brass-helm nautical-bridge light. Sits at the modifier-and-nautical end of the grid, parallel to tiller and bow in usage.

Anas crecca, the small dabbling duck whose male in breeding plumage sports a chestnut head crossed by a glossy green-blue stripe. The color refers to that stripe — the iridescent panel just behind the eye: a saturated, slightly muted blue-green with the optical depth of structural color rather than pigment. Cooler than cypress, warmer than cerulean, with the ornithological specificity of a color named for one feather of one bird.