Refulgent Lull Jade

Latin refulgēns, shining-back — present-participle of refulgere, sharing root with fulgor (lightning). As a color modifier, refulgent implies a saturated-and-reflective-shining quality, the bright color of polished-bronze-and-armor reflective-surface mid-day-sun reflection. Sits at the bright-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to effulgent and resplendent in usage.

Middle English lullen, to-sing-to-sleep. As a color modifier, lull implies a hushed-and-pacified-and-cradled quality, the visual register of cradle-song-and-vesper-lull hand-cradled-and-rocked cradle-and-cot-and-crib hand-rocked-and-sung-to-lulled-and-cradled lulled-and-cradled surfaces under cradle-song-and-vesper hush-and-quiet-and-still bedside-and-nursery-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to hush and soothe 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.