Gleaming Meek Goldenrod

The progressive participle of gleam, to shine intermittently. Used as a color word for hues with the slight optical motion of a polished or wet surface. Gleaming gold, gleaming red: the implication is luminance combined with the optical impression of specular highlight. Sits in the bright-and-glossy corner alongside lustrous.

Old Norse mjúkr, soft-and-gentle. As a color modifier, meek implies a hushed-and-self-effacing-and-quiet quality, the visual register of Beatitude-and-Quaker-meeting-meek hand-bowed-and-self-effacing-and-quiet Beatitude-and-Quaker-meeting-and-monastic-cloister meek-and-bowed-and-quieted surfaces under Beatitude-and-Quaker-meeting-and-monastic-cloister hush-and-bowed-vigil candle-lit-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to coy and mute in usage.

Solidago, the late-summer wildflower of North American meadows whose tall sprays of small yellow flowers signal the end of the growing season. The color refers to the flower head at full bloom: a warm, slightly muted yellow-orange with the matte finish of small clustered florets. Cooler than mustard, deeper than dandelion. The state flower of Kentucky and Nebraska, a pollinator magnet, and the original native dye for early American homespun.