scarlet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskɑːlɪt/ (UK); /ˈskɑɹlɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scarlet (“scarlet cloth”), borrowed from Old French escarlate,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Medieval Latin scarlata (“scarlet cloth”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} probably from Persian سقرلات (saqirlāt, “rich cloth”), from Arabic siqillāṭ “fine cloth”.^[2][3][5][6] The AHD and Random House trace this further, perhaps, to Medieval Greek sigillátos, from Latin sigillātus “decorated with small figures”.^[2][6] Etymonline suggests instead a Germanic source like Old High German scarlachen.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rich cloth, often but not necessarily bright red (about 1250).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The name of the cloth became the name of its usual colour, a brilliant red inclining to orange (c. 1300 in Barnhart; c. 1440 in the OED).^[3][7] It also named scarlet robes worn as official dress by judges, doctors of law and soldiers (1496).^[7] From the “scarlet” sins of Isaiah and the Scarlet Woman of Revelation, the adjective came to mean flagrantly immoral, especially sexually.^[5][4] Scarlet fever dates from the 1670s, from its rash.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – a rich cloth.^[7][3][4]
• c. 1300 – the colour; adjective, of this colour.^[3][4]
• 1496 – scarlet official or ceremonial dress.^[7]
• 1670s – scarlet fever.^[4]
• 1924 – scarlet woman, an immoral woman.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A strong to vivid red or reddish orange.
2. Cloth or clothing of this colour.

Adjective

1. Of a strong to vivid red or reddish orange.
2. Flagrantly immoral or unchaste, especially sexually, as in a scarlet woman.

Word family

• scarlet fever
• scarlet letter
• scarlet pimpernel
• scarlet tanager
• scarlet woman

Related words

• vermilion
• crimson
• sigil

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press