"scarlet" in seven languages
Meaningscarlet
Spanish
/eskaɾˈlata/
borrowed · probably Andalusi Arabic iškarláṭa
French
/ekaʁlat/
borrowed · Medieval Latin scarlata (Old French escarlate)
Italian
/skarˈlatto/
borrowed · Medieval Latin scarlatum
Portuguese
/iskahˈlatʃi/
borrowed · Medieval Latin scarlata, through another Romance language
Romanian
/stakoˈʒiw/
other source · of uncertain origin
Catalan
/əskərˈlatə/
borrowed · Medieval Latin scarlata
English
/ˈskɑɹlət/
from Latin/French · Old French escarlate
The Latin ancestor
SCARLATUM (Medieval Latin, ultimately from Arabic/Persian; disputed)‘a fine dyed cloth’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Originally the name of a luxurious cloth, not a colour. Even as a borrowing it shows the s-impura pattern: es-, é-, s-.
English relatives: scarlet (via Old French)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl cardenal viste de escarlata.
- frLe cardinal est vêtu d'écarlate.
- itIl cardinale veste di scarlatto.
- ptO cardeal veste escarlate.
- roCardinalul poartă veșminte stacojii.
- caEl cardenal va vestit d'escarlata.
- enThe cardinal wears scarlet.