Devout Merry Rose

From the Latin devotus, consecrated — used principally in religious contexts for the dignified deep colors of sacred art and ecclesiastical dress. As a color modifier, devout implies saturation combined with restraint: the deep blues of Marian mantles, the deep reds of cardinals' robes. Sits in the bold-and-formal corner alongside imperial.

Old English myrige, pleasant-and-glad. As a color modifier, merry implies a glad-and-bright-and-festive quality, the visual register of Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-merry hand-glad-and-bright-and-festive Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-and-village-fair merried-and-glad-and-bright-and-festive surfaces under Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-and-village-fair Sherwood-Forest-and-Mayday-and-Whitsun greenwood-festival-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to jolly and blithe in usage.

The Latin rosa, the Greek rhodon, the Persian gul — every European language has a different name for the same flower and the same color. Rose covers the spectrum from blush to fuchsia depending on the cultivar, but in pigment shorthand it means a cool, slightly bluish red — the inside of a damask petal, the dye that washes out of madder root.