Lavish Mirth Brick

Old French lavasse, downpour — sharing root with laver (to wash). As a color modifier, lavish implies a saturated-and-extravagant quality where the hue spills over its visual boundaries with luxurious pigmentation. Sits at the bold-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to opulent and sumptuous in usage.

Old English myrgth, joy-or-pleasure. As a color modifier, mirth implies a hearty-and-laughing-and-festive quality, the visual register of Twelfth-Night-and-Mardi-Gras-mirth hand-hearty-and-laughing-and-festive Twelfth-Night-and-Mardi-Gras-and-Saturnalia mirthed-and-hearty-and-laughing-and-festive surfaces under Twelfth-Night-and-Mardi-Gras-and-Saturnalia banquet-hall-and-festival-square candlelit-revelry-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to glee and merry in usage.

Fired clay, mineral red. The color refers to common building brick — iron-rich earthenware kilned to the specific dusky red-orange of a Victorian terrace, a Roman aqueduct, an adobe wall in New Mexico. Less saturated than ruby, warmer than burgundy, with a chalky cast that reads as architectural rather than decorative.