Lit Orbit Kiwi

The past participle of light — short and modern. Used as a color word since the late twentieth century for hues that read as if they were illuminated. Lit yellow, lit pink: the implication is luminance combined with the slight optical impression of an internal light source. Sits in the bright-bucket extreme alongside electric.

Latin orbita, track-or-wheel-rut. As a color modifier, orbit implies a Keplerian-ellipse-and-circling quality, the visual register of Keplerian-ellipse-and-Newton-Principia-orbit hand-Keplerian-ellipse-and-circling Keplerian-ellipse-and-Newton-Principia-and-Tycho-orbit orbit-and-Keplerian-ellipse-and-circling surfaces under Keplerian-ellipse-and-Newton-Principia-and-Tycho-orbit Royal-Society-and-celestial-mechanics 17th-century-observation-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to axis and parsec in usage.

Actinidia deliciosa — originally the Chinese gooseberry before New Zealand growers rebranded it for export in the 1950s. The color refers to the cross-section of a ripe green-fleshed kiwifruit: a saturated, slightly yellow-shifted green with the optical brightness of small black seeds suspended in translucent flesh. Brighter than apple, sharper than pear, with the instantly recognizable graphic quality of the cut fruit.