Earnest Peplos violet

Old English eornost, seriousness, zeal. Used as a color modifier since the nineteenth century for hues that read as committed but unshowy — the working blues of denim, the deep greens of Quaker meetinghouses. Sits in the bold-and-quiet corner of the grid, slightly less luminous than resolute and slightly less institutional than imperial.

Greek πέπλος, Hellenic-women's-robe. As a color modifier, peplos implies a Hellenic-women's-peplos-and-pinned-shoulder quality, the visual register of Hellenic-peplos-and-Athena-Parthenos hand-Hellenic-women's-peplos-and-pinned-shoulder Hellenic-peplos-and-Athena-Parthenos-and-Panathenaic-festival peplos-and-Hellenic-women's-peplos surfaces under Hellenic-peplos-and-Athena-Parthenos-and-Panathenaic-festival Athenian-Acropolis-and-Panathenaic-procession Hellenic-court-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to chiton and tunic 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.