scarlet
Part of speech: noun
adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
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 silks dyed scarlet-red using the exceptionally expensive dye, first attested around the ninth century. The most obvious route for the Arabic word siqillāt to have entered the Romance languages would be via the Arabic-speaking Iberian region of al-Andalus, particularly Almería, where kermes was produced extensively; compare especially the dialectal form سِقِرْلَاط (siqirlāṭ). The word then came to be used of woollen cloth dyed with the same dye. The Arabic word may itself be derived from Byzantine Greek σιγιλλᾶτον (sigillâton), from Latin sigillātum (“a type of fabric”, literally “sealed; sealing”) .
Inflected forms:
form: scarlets
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: more scarlet
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most scarlet
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: scarlets
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: scarleting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: scarleted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: scarleted
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A brilliant red colour sometimes tinged with orange.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Biblical criteria of sexual seductiveness include a white skin, black hair, or henna-dyed, scarlet lips, a prominent nose, rosy temples, long straight neck, firm breasts, round thighs, an erect posture.
gloss: Cloth of a scarlet color.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: All her household are clothed with scarlet.
gloss: Of a bright red colour.
pos: adj
examples: Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
gloss: Sinful or whorish.
pos: adj
examples: a scarlet woman
gloss: Blushing; embarrassed or mortified.
pos: adj
tags: Ireland
examples: He signed off our correspondence, “Well thank God for facemasks, cos I’m scarlet”.
gloss: To dye or tinge (something) with scarlet.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Forbeare; the aſhy paleneſſe of my cheeke / Is ſcarletted in ruddy flakes of vvrath: […]
Synonyms: scarlet red
Derived words: Scarlet
scarletberry
scarleteer
scarletish
scarlet-like
scarletly
scarletness
scarletwork
scarlety
Gobelin scarlet
iodine scarlet
scarlet admiral
scarlet banana
scarlet bean
scarlet-bodied wasp moth
scarlet-browed tanager
scarlet buglar
scarlet bugler
scarlet-collar
scarlet eggplant
scarlet fever
scarlet geranium
scarlet hat
scarlet honeycreeper
scarlet honeyeater
scarlet honeysuckle
scarlet ibis
scarlet letter
scarlet lightning
scarlet lily beetle
scarlet macaw
scarlet milkweed
scarlet minivet
scarlet myzomela
scarlet oak
scarlet percher
scarlet pimpernel
scarlet queening
scarlet rosefinch
scarlet runner
scarlet shiner
scarlet snake
scarlet tanager
scarlet tiger
scarlet woman
Translations: