Inviting Mast Teal

Latin invītāre, to invite — present-participle of invite. As a color modifier, inviting implies a clear-and-cordial-and-encouraging quality where the hue carries the visual register of warm-inviting-and-encouraging entrance-foyer color tone. Sits at the crisp-and-cheerful end of the grid, parallel to welcoming and hospitable in usage.

Old English mæst, long-pole. As a color modifier, mast implies a tall-pole-with-sails quality, the visual register of Tall-Ship-and-Royal-Navy-Mast hand-rigged tall-mast-with-sail-and-yard tall-ship-and-frigate maritime-architecture surfaces under tall-ship-mast-and-yard maritime-overhead light. Sits at the modifier-and-nautical end of the grid, parallel to spar and boom 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.