Bold Blaze Violet

Old English beald, brave, courageous — a quality word that crossed over to color in the late seventeenth century. Bold describes a color that asserts itself: high saturation combined with mid lightness, where the hue presents itself without compromise. Sits at the center of the bold-bucket grid, near strong and rich. Closer to a presence word than a pigment word.

Old English blæse, torch-or-flame. As a color modifier, blaze implies a roaring-and-bright-and-spreading-flame quality, the visual register of bonfire-and-Yule-log-blaze hand-roaring-and-bright-and-spreading-flame bonfire-and-Yule-log-and-hearth-fire blazed-and-roaring-and-bright-and-spreading surfaces under bonfire-and-Yule-log-and-hearth-fire roaring-and-bright-and-spreading midwinter-and-bonfire-night-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to flare and spark 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.