A Little Book on Colors

...the excellent authors of Latinity show, M. Cicero and Virgil Maro, of whom one called the color of a human "sweet," and by the other it was called

The sweetly blushing hyacinth.

Others are sad and mournful, just as we have said that atra (black), pullum (dark grey), ferrugineum (rusty/dark), and the appearance of cœruleum (sea-blue/green) are. Indeed, just as they are seen, so some are also called sordidi (filthy/dull), such as those we have spoken of: suasus and impluuiatus, for people used to disfigure themselves with these so that they might capture pity from judges. Virgil shows that the clothing of Charon was such, when he says:

A filthy mantle hung from his shoulders by a knot.

Now, indeed, colors are partly named from places, such as puniceus (Punic), tyrius (Tyrian), and the same as sarranus. These are purple; indicum (indigo), sinopis, melinus, hispanus (Spanish), bæticus (Baetic), and mutinensis (Modenese), of which we have spoken. Colossinus is from the city Colossus in the Troad, where wool is dyed reflecting the flower of the cyclamen, which is called now rapum, now terrae malum, now tuber, and by us Cosentinians terrigena; that flower gleams between white and purple.
From metals and plants.

They are partly named from metals, such as plumbeus (lead-colored), ferrugineus (rusty), argenteus (silvery), and aureus (golden). But very many received their names from plants, as besides phœniceus (the palm-color) and xerampelinus (dry-vine-leaf colored). Buxeus (boxwood-colored) is that which is taken for pale, for boxwood material is paler than others. Furthermore, roseus (rose-colored), hyacinthinus (hyacinth-colored), in which a blackish purple shines. Hysginus from the herb hysge, coccinus (scarlet), and both similar to sandycinus. Violaceus (violet) which is also ianthinus, from which tyrianthinus is made—from purple, as the name indicates—and viola. To these he adds croceus (saffron), whence...