Scarlet

How to spell scarlet

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scarlet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scarlet mean?

1. adjectiveOf a vivid, slightly orange-tinged bright red colour.
2. nounA brilliant red colour, often with a hint of orange.

Scarlet in a sentence

• adjective

  She chose a scarlet ribbon to tie back the curtains.

• noun

  The painter mixed a deep scarlet for the poppy petals.

• adjective

  The maple leaves turned scarlet in late autumn.

• noun

  The official robes were a striking shade of scarlet.

Where does scarlet come from?

Language of origin: French

Scarlet came into English in the 1200s from Old French escarlate, which itself traces back to the Medieval Latin scarlata or scarlatum. Surprisingly, the word did not originally name a colour at all: it described a costly, finely woven cloth, the kind worn by the wealthy and by high officials. Because that luxurious cloth was so often dyed a brilliant red, the name gradually transferred from the fabric to the shade itself. The Latin term is widely thought to derive in turn from a Persian word, saqalat, for a kind of rich textile, carried west through trade. The spelling keeps the unstressed second syllable that sounds like a soft 'let', which is the small trap when writing it from memory.

How the word is built

• scarlet (a single root from Old French escarlate, originally a rich cloth, later its bright red colour)