Highborn Blaze Crimson

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 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.

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.