Rich Cumin Crimson

Old French riche, wealthy, abundant — applied to color since the medieval period for hues that read as plentiful in pigment. Rich red, rich brown: the implication is depth combined with saturation, a color that gives the eye more to absorb. Sits at the saturated mid-light corner of the engine's grid, slightly warmer than bold and deeper than vivid.

Greek κύμινον, aromatic-Levantine-seed. As a color modifier, cumin implies a warm-Levantine-and-North-African-and-Mughal quality, the visual register of Levantine-and-North-African-and-Mughal-cumin hand-warm-Levantine-and-North-African-and-Mughal Levantine-and-North-African-and-Mughal-cumin-and-Aleppo-and-Marrakesh cumin-and-warm-Levantine surfaces under Levantine-and-North-African-and-Mughal-cumin-and-Aleppo-and-Marrakesh Aleppo-and-Marrakesh-and-Lahore Levantine-spice-light. Sits at the modifier-and-flavor end of the grid, parallel to caraway and pepper 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.