Velvety Cowl violet

An adjectival form of velvet, used since the eighteenth century for colors that read as if they had the matte light-absorbing quality of velvet. Implies high saturation combined with a non-glossy surface — the matte richness of a deep wine in a fabric rather than in a glass. Sits in the bold-and-deep corner of the grid alongside plush and lush.

Latin cuculla, monk's-hood-or-hood-of-habit. As a color modifier, cowl implies a monk's-hood-and-deeply-folded-hood quality, the visual register of Benedictine-and-Cistercian-monk's-cowl hand-monk's-hood-and-deeply-folded-hood Benedictine-and-Cistercian-monk's-cowl-and-Cluny-Abbey cowl-and-monk's-hood surfaces under Benedictine-and-Cistercian-monk's-cowl-and-Cluny-Abbey Cluny-and-Cîteaux-Abbey monastic-cloister-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to cloak and frock 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.