Settled Kimono Mint

The past participle of settle, to come to rest — used as a color modifier since the seventeenth century for hues that read as stabilized after a process. Settled green, settled brown: moderate saturation combined with optical permanence. Sits at the crisp-bucket alongside steady and composed.

Japanese kimono, thing-to-wear. As a color modifier, kimono implies a Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode quality, the visual register of Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode hand-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin kimono-and-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode surfaces under Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin Heian-Kyoto-and-Edo-Tokugawa Japanese-court-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to haori and sari 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.