Alight Murk Mint

Old English ā-lihtan, to set alight — past-participle of alight. As a color modifier, alight implies a saturated-and-currently-illuminated quality, the bright color of Christmas-tree and Diwali-lamp festival-decoration illuminated-and-twinkling emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to aflame and aglow in usage.

Old Norse myrkr, darkness-or-obscurity. As a color modifier, murk implies a clouded-and-dim-and-obscured quality, the visual register of fen-and-bog-and-tarn-murk hand-clouded-and-dim-and-obscured fen-and-bog-and-tarn-and-marsh murky-and-clouded-and-dim-and-obscured surfaces under fen-and-bog-and-tarn-and-marsh peat-stained-and-clouded-and-dim swamp-and-fen-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to gloom and pall in usage.

The genus Mentha — peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, water mint — the cooling herb whose menthol gives it that quality at the molecular level. The color refers to fresh peppermint leaves before drying: a clean, slightly cool green with the matte finish of trichome-rich leaf surface. Lighter than basil, cooler than parsley, with the mojito-and-Pimm's association of a herb tied to summer drinks across two continents.