Lush Sari 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.

Sanskrit śāṭī, long-draped-cloth. As a color modifier, sari implies an Indian-sari-and-Banarasi-and-Kanjeevaram-silk quality, the visual register of Banarasi-and-Kanjeevaram-sari hand-Indian-sari-and-Banarasi-and-Kanjeevaram-silk Banarasi-and-Kanjeevaram-sari-and-Mysore-and-Bengal-cotton sari-and-Indian-sari surfaces under Banarasi-and-Kanjeevaram-sari-and-Mysore-and-Bengal-cotton Varanasi-and-Kanjeevaram-and-Mysore-loom Indian-loom-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to kimono and haori 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.