Spectral Wool Jade

Latin spectrum, appearance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, spectral implies a saturated-and-rainbow-decomposed-and-pure quality, the bright color of Newton-prism sunlight-decomposed seven-color spectrum band. Sits at the bright-and-pure end of the grid, parallel to prismatic and pure in usage.

Old English wull, wool. As a color modifier, wool implies a sheep-fleece-and-warm quality, the visual register of Cotswold-and-Welsh-and-Highland hand-spun-and-hand-woven sheep-fleece-and-felted Cotswold-Welsh-Highland wool-textile surfaces under hand-spun-and-felted-wool textile light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to silk and yarn in usage.

Two minerals share the name: nephrite (a calcium-magnesium silicate, dominant in Chinese jade) and jadeite (a sodium-aluminum silicate, dominant in Burmese imperial jade). Both have been carved in China since at least the Neolithic. The color refers to high-quality apple-green jadeite: a saturated, slightly muted yellow-green with the waxy translucency of polished stone. Cooler than apple, warmer than mint, with the millennial cultural weight of yu, the stone of heaven.