Voluptuous Yule Crimson

Latin voluptuōsus, pleasurable — derived from voluptās (pleasure). As a color modifier, voluptuous implies a saturated-and-rich-and-curving-sensual quality, the deep-rich color of Rubens-and-Boucher baroque-and-rococo flesh-and-fabric tonality. Sits at the bold-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to lush and plush in tone.

Old Norse jól, winter-solstice. As a color modifier, yule implies a winter-solstice-and-fir-tree quality, the visual register of Norse-and-English winter-solstice fir-and-holly-and-mistletoe candlelit-firelight feast-and-greenery surfaces under deep-winter Northern-Hemisphere late-December candlelight. Sits at the modifier-and-time end of the grid, parallel to advent and easter 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.