Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “scarlet” come from?

Scarlet comes from Middle English scarlet, from Old French escarlate, from Latin scarlatum, from Persian سقلاط, ultimately from Latin sigillum meaning seal, traced through Latin signum and Proto-Indo-European sek-.

scarlet (English): A brilliant red colour tinged with orange; Cloth...

Definitions

  1. A brilliant red colour tinged with orange; Cloth...

Ancestry of “scarlet”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishscarlet—
2Old Frenchescarlatea sort of fine, expensive cloth
3Medieval Latinscarlatumscarlet cloth; scarlet, cloth of scarlet
4Persianسقرلاطa warm woollen cloth
5Greekσιγιλλᾶτος—
6Latinsigillatumnominative neuter singular of sigillātus;...
7LatinsigilloI seal; I confirm; dative singular of sigillum
8Latinsigillumfigurine, statuette; seal
9Latin-lusAlternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix
10Proto-Italic-elos—
11Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
12Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “scarlet”

  • scarletwork
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →