Smoldering Eave Crimson

The progressive participle of smolder, to burn slowly without flame. Used as a color word since the late nineteenth century for the deep reds and oranges of barely-flame coal — the warm saturated darks where the heat is internal rather than emitted. Sits in the bold-and-warm corner, slightly less luminous than burning and slightly less calm than rich.

Old English efes, roof-edge. As a color modifier, eave implies a roof-overhang-and-edge quality, the visual register of Japanese-engawa-and-English-eave hand-built roof-overhang-and-edge eave-and-fascia-and-soffit architectural surfaces under Japanese-and-English eave-edge filtered light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to gable and frieze in usage.

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.