Lush Malt Crimson

Middle English lush, possibly from lascious, lascivious — a word that drifted from sensual ripeness toward visual abundance. Used as a color word since the eighteenth century for the saturated greens of well-watered foliage and the deep saturated jewel tones of velvet upholstery. Used across the deep and bold buckets where the hue is simultaneously dark and vivid.

Old English mealt, germinated-grain. As a color modifier, malt implies a kilned-grain-and-amber-stout quality, the visual register of Burton-on-Trent-and-Bavarian-malt hand-kilned-grain-and-amber-stout Burton-on-Trent-and-Bavarian-malt-and-Munich-and-Pilsen malt-and-kilned-grain surfaces under Burton-on-Trent-and-Bavarian-malt-and-Munich-and-Pilsen Burton-and-Munich-and-Pilsen brewery-and-kiln-light. Sits at the modifier-and-flavor end of the grid, parallel to syrup and zest 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.