1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Scarlet

SCARLET, a vivid, bright red colour, somewhat, inclined to orange. The word appears in most European languages; cf. Ger. Scharlach, Swed. skarlakan, Ital. scarlatto, &c.; the English form is an adaptation of the O. Fr. escarlate, mod. écarlate. The origin of these is to be found in the Persian raglan, meaning “ broad-cloth.” There are various forms, sagalāt, sigalāt, suglāt; this cloth was chiefly used for dresses, flags, large tents and trappings, and was frequently scarlet in colour, and hence its name became applied to the colour.