Heroic Sanded Crimson

Latin hēroicus, of a hero — derived from Greek hērōs. As a color modifier, heroic implies a saturated-and-monumental-and-victorious quality, the deep-rich color of Wagner-and-Sibelius late-Romantic-era musical-and-painterly heroic-mode. Sits at the bold-and-celebratory end of the grid, parallel to triumphant and valiant.

Old English sandian, to-sand. As a color modifier, sanded implies a hand-sanded-and-smoothed-wood quality, the visual register of Shaker-and-Mid-Century-Modern-sanded hand-sanded-and-smoothed-and-finished wood-and-stone-and-metal Shaker-and-Mid-Century-Modern hand-sanded-and-smoothed surfaces under Shaker-and-Mid-Century-Modern hand-sanded-and-smoothed workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to honed and buffed 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.