Magisterial Hover Rose

Latin magisterium, teacher's office — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, magisterial implies a saturated-and-authoritative-and-formal quality, the deep-rich color of Qing-dynasty civil-magistrate court-and-ritual textiles and Imperial-Examination scholar-class livery. Sits at the bold-and-authoritative end of the grid, parallel to authoritative and commanding.

Middle English hoveren, to-remain-suspended. As a color modifier, hover implies a suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant quality, the visual register of kestrel-and-hummingbird-hover hand-suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant kestrel-and-hummingbird-and-dragonfly hovered-and-suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant surfaces under kestrel-and-hummingbird-and-dragonfly heat-shimmer-and-summer-meadow-and-cliff-edge mid-air-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to float and flit in usage.

The Latin rosa, the Greek rhodon, the Persian gul — every European language has a different name for the same flower and the same color. Rose covers the spectrum from blush to fuchsia depending on the cultivar, but in pigment shorthand it means a cool, slightly bluish red — the inside of a damask petal, the dye that washes out of madder root.