Hardy Dryad Ruby

Old French hardi, bold / brave — past-participle of hardir (to make brave). As a color modifier, hardy implies a saturated-and-cold-resistant quality, the deep-rich color of Scandinavian-and-Russian boreal-forest-and-tundra outdoor-clothing. Sits at the bold-and-resilient end of the grid, parallel to tough and resilient.

Greek δρυάς, oak-tree-nymph. As a color modifier, dryad implies an oak-tree-nymph-and-grove-spirit quality, the visual register of Hellenic-dryad-and-oak-grove-nymph hand-oak-tree-nymph-and-grove-spirit Hellenic-dryad-and-oak-grove-nymph-and-Arcadian-grove dryad-and-oak-tree-nymph-and-grove-spirit surfaces under Hellenic-dryad-and-oak-grove-nymph-and-Arcadian-grove Dodona-oak-and-sacred-grove tree-nymph-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to nymph and nereid in usage.

From the Latin ruber — simply, red. The gemstone is a chromium-tinged corundum, harder than anything in nature except diamond, and so saturated that a fine Burmese pigeon's blood ruby at auction outpaces a comparable diamond by weight. The color borrows the gem's confidence: a clear, glassy red without the brown of garnet or the blue of crimson.