Regal Limed Crimson

Latin rēgālis, kingly — derived from rēx (king). As a color modifier, regal implies a saturated-and-royal-formality quality, the deep-rich color of British-Coronation-period royal vestment-and-mantle and Imperial-State-Crown regalia. Sits at the bold-and-imperial end of the grid, parallel to sovereign and royal in usage.

Old English līm, lime. As a color modifier, limed implies a lime-washed-and-whitened quality, the visual register of Andalusian-and-Mediterranean-limewashed hand-limed-and-whitewashed stone-and-stucco-and-timber Andalusian-and-Mediterranean-limewashed surfaces under Andalusian-and-Mediterranean lime-washed-and-whitened light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to mossed and pitted in usage.

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.