n. & adj.
n. 1 a brilliant red colour tinged with orange. 2 clothes or material of this colour (dressed in scarlet).
adj. of a scarlet colour. scarlet fever an infectious bacterial fever, affecting esp. children, with a scarlet rash. scarlet hat RC Ch. a cardinal's hat as a symbol of rank. scarlet pimpernel a small annual wild plant, Anagallis arvensis, with small esp. scarlet flowers closing in rainy or cloudy weather: also called poor man's weather-glass. scarlet rash = ROSEOLA 1. scarlet runner 1 a runner bean. 2 a scarlet-flowered climber bearing this bean. scarlet woman derog. a notoriously promiscuous woman, a prostitute.
[ ME f. OF escarlate: ult. orig. unkn. ]