Dominant Toltec Crimson

Latin dominārī, to rule — present-participle of dominate. As a color modifier, dominant implies a saturated-and-leading quality where the hue claims visual precedence over neighboring colors in the surrounding palette. Sits at the bold-and-imperative end of the grid, parallel to commanding and authoritative.

Nahuatl Tolteca, Toltec. As a color modifier, toltec implies a Tula-and-Mesoamerican quality, the visual register of Toltec-civilization-of-Tula post-Classic Mesoamerican hand-carved Atlantean-warrior-and-feathered-serpent stone-monumental surfaces under Tula-Hidalgo-and-Chichen-Itza post-Classic Mesoamerican high-altitude light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to aztec and olmec 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.