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Added 9 October 2026

scarlet

/ˈskɑɹlɪt/ noun

In Latin: coccum First recorded: 1290 Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about scarlet at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A variable color that is vivid red but sometimes with an orange tinge.

adjective

Of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies.

Origin

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 silks dyed scarlet-red using the exceptionally expensive dye, first attested around the ninth century.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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