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. ecarlate . The origin of these is to be found in the Persian saglan, meaning " broad-cloth." There are various forms, sagaldt, sigalat, suglat; 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 .