scarlet

The story

1. Latin · derived fromsigillātum“a type of fabric”
2. Medieval Greek · derived fromσιγιλλᾶτον
3. Arabic · derived fromسِقِلَّات
4. Classical Persian · derived fromسقرلات“a warm woollen cloth”
5. Medieval Latin · derived fromscarlātum“scarlet cloth”
6. Old French · derived fromescarlate“a type of cloth”
7. Middle English · inherited fromscarlet
8. English todayscarlet

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 Medieval Greek σιγιλλᾶτον (sigillâton), from Latin sigillātum (“a type of fabric”, literally “sealed; sealing”) .