Armored Ruff Crimson

Old French armëure, armor — past-participle of armor, derived from Latin arma (weapons). As a color modifier, armored implies a saturated-and-armor-clad-and-defensive quality, the deep-rich color of medieval-knight full-plate-armor visible-and-formidable battle-presence. Sits at the bold-and-fortified end of the grid, parallel to ironclad and shielded.

Old English ruffe, Elizabethan-pleated-collar. As a color modifier, ruff implies a starched-and-Elizabethan-pleated-collar quality, the visual register of Elizabethan-and-Spanish-Habsburg-ruff hand-starched-and-Elizabethan-pleated-collar Elizabethan-and-Spanish-Habsburg-ruff-and-Holbein-portrait ruff-and-starched-and-Elizabethan-pleated-collar surfaces under Elizabethan-and-Spanish-Habsburg-ruff-and-Holbein-portrait Tudor-and-Spanish-Habsburg-court starched-collar-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to gown and frock 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.