Polished Honed Mint

Latin polīre, to polish — past-participle of polish. As a color modifier, polished implies a clear-and-smooth-and-glossy quality where the hue carries the visual register of buffed-and-burnished smooth-finish surface. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to burnished and gleaming in usage.

Old English hǣnan, to-sharpen. As a color modifier, honed implies a sharp-edged-and-polished quality, the visual register of Sheffield-and-Solingen-honed-blade hand-honed-and-sharpened-and-polished steel-and-iron-and-bronze Sheffield-and-Solingen-honed-blade surfaces under Sheffield-and-Solingen hand-honed-and-sharpened-blade workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to buffed and gloss 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.