Hemmed Glide Teal

Old English hem, border — past-participle of hem. As a color modifier, hemmed implies a clear-and-finished-and-bordered quality where the hue carries the visual register of carefully-hemmed-and-finished textile-edge. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to trim and finished in usage.

Old English glīdan, to-move-smoothly. As a color modifier, glide implies a smooth-and-silent-and-frictionless quality, the visual register of swan-and-skater-glide hand-smooth-and-silent-and-frictionless swan-and-skater-and-soaring-albatross glided-and-smooth-and-silent-and-frictionless surfaces under swan-and-skater-and-soaring-albatross frozen-pond-and-Hyde-Park-Serpentine-and-open-ocean smooth-flight-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to float and hover 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.