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scarlet

Pronunciation: /ˈskɑɹlɪt/

The English word “scarlet” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A brilliant red colour sometimes tinged with orange.
  2. Cloth of a scarlet color.

adjective

  1. Of a bright red colour.
  2. Sinful or whorish.
  3. Blushing; embarrassed or mortified.

verb

  1. To dye or tinge (something) with scarlet.

Etymology

From Middle English scarlet, scarlat, borrowed from Old French escarlate (“a type of cloth”), from Medieval Latin scarlātum (“scarlet cloth”), of uncertain origin. This was long thought to derive from Classical Persian سقرلات (saqirlāt, “a warm woollen cloth”), but the Persian word (first attested in the 1290s) is now thought to be from Arabic سِقِلَّات (siqillāt), denoting very expensive, luxury…

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