scarlet English · revision 1007

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈskɑːlɪt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈskɑɹlɪt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|scarlet|t=scarlet cloth]], [[bor|fro|escarlate]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[la-med|scarlata|t=scarlet cloth]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably from [[fa|سقرلات|tr=saqirlāt|t=rich cloth]], from Arabic ''siqillāṭ'' “fine cloth”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The AHD and Random House trace this further, perhaps, to Medieval Greek ''sigillátos'', from Latin ''sigillātus'' “decorated with small figures”.^(AHD)^(RHWU) Etymonline suggests instead a Germanic source like Old High German ''scarlachen''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A rich cloth, often but not necessarily bright red (about 1250).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) It also named scarlet robes worn as official dress by judges, doctors of law and soldiers (1496).^(OED 1989) From the “scarlet” sins of Isaiah and the Scarlet Woman of Revelation, the adjective came to mean flagrantly immoral, especially sexually.^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) ''Scarlet fever'' dates from the 1670s, from its rash.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – a rich cloth.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – the colour; adjective, of this colour.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1496 – scarlet official or ceremonial dress.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1670s – ''scarlet fever''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – ''scarlet woman'', an immoral woman.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A strong to vivid [[red]] or reddish [[orange]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Cloth or clothing of this colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a strong to vivid red or reddish orange.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Flagrantly immoral or unchaste, especially sexually, as in ''a scarlet woman''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scarlet fever]]

+ * [[scarlet letter]]

+ * [[scarlet pimpernel]]

+ * [[scarlet tanager]]

+ * [[scarlet woman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vermilion]]

+ * [[crimson]]

+ * [[sigil]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}