Highborn Awe Violet

Old English hēah-boren, high-born — past-participle of bear. As a color modifier, highborn implies a saturated-and-aristocratic-and-elite quality, the deep-rich color of pre-modern English high-born aristocratic-class livery-and-armorial bearings. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to noble and aristocratic in usage.

Old Norse agi, fright-and-reverence. As a color modifier, awe implies a reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed quality, the visual register of Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-awe hand-reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-and-Romantic-vista awed-and-reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed surfaces under Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-and-Romantic-vista alpine-and-storm-cloud-and-mountain-pass cathedral-of-nature-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to bliss and grace 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.