Armored Thaw Violet

Old French armëure, armor — past-participle of armor, derived from Latin arma (weapons). As a color modifier, armored implies a saturated-and-armor-clad-and-defensive quality, the deep-rich color of medieval-knight full-plate-armor visible-and-formidable battle-presence. Sits at the bold-and-fortified end of the grid, parallel to ironclad and shielded.

Old English thawian, to-melt-or-soften. As a color modifier, thaw implies a spring-melt-and-softening-frost quality, the visual register of English-spring-and-Pennine-thaw hand-spring-melt-and-softening-frost English-spring-and-Pennine-thaw-and-Cumbria-Highland-thaw thaw-and-spring-melt-and-softening-frost surfaces under English-spring-and-Pennine-thaw-and-Cumbria-Highland-thaw Yorkshire-Dales-and-Lake-District-and-Cairngorm spring-melt-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to slush and rain 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.