Rich Blithe Violet

Old French riche, wealthy, abundant — applied to color since the medieval period for hues that read as plentiful in pigment. Rich red, rich brown: the implication is depth combined with saturation, a color that gives the eye more to absorb. Sits at the saturated mid-light corner of the engine's grid, slightly warmer than bold and deeper than vivid.

Old English blīthe, joyful-and-kind. As a color modifier, blithe implies a carefree-and-light-hearted-and-cheerful quality, the visual register of Shakespearean-pastoral-and-Forest-of-Arden-blithe hand-carefree-and-light-hearted-and-cheerful Shakespearean-pastoral-and-Forest-of-Arden-and-As-You-Like-It blithe-and-carefree-and-light-hearted-and-cheerful surfaces under Shakespearean-pastoral-and-Forest-of-Arden-and-As-You-Like-It English-greenwood-and-shepherd's-meadow Maytime-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to merry and jolly in usage.

Viola odorata, the European sweet violet — small, fragrant, and the original meaning of the color name in English (the Violet of the rainbow). The color refers to a fresh sweet violet blossom in late winter: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep blue-purple with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower used in Roman garlands and Victorian eau de toilette.