Ostentatious Float Wasabi

Latin ostentātiōnis, display — adjectival suffix -ous, derived from ostendere (to show). As a color modifier, ostentatious implies a saturated-and-attention-demanding-and-elaborate quality, the bright color of Belle-Époque-and-Gilded-Age showy-luxury-display interior-decoration. Sits at the bright-and-flamboyant end of the grid, parallel to flamboyant and showy in usage.

Old English flotian, to-move-on-water-surface. As a color modifier, float implies a buoyant-and-untethered-and-drifting quality, the visual register of lotus-pond-and-petal-on-river-float hand-buoyant-and-untethered-and-drifting lotus-pond-and-petal-on-river-and-paper-lantern floated-and-buoyant-and-untethered-and-drifting surfaces under lotus-pond-and-petal-on-river-and-paper-lantern Heian-and-Edo-and-Yangtze still-water-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to drift and hover in usage.

Eutrema japonicum, the river-grown rhizome from the cold streams of Honshu, ground fresh into the green paste that accompanies sushi in traditional Japanese restaurants. Most wasabi served outside Japan is dyed horseradish — the real plant is rare and expensive. The color refers to fresh-grated wasabi: a soft, slightly muted yellow-green with the matte finish of a wet plant cell wall, brighter than sage, drier than matcha.