| 释义 |
▪ I. scarlet, n. and a.|ˈskɑːlɪt|
Forms: 3–7 scarlat, skarlet, 4 scarleit, scharlette, 4–6, 8 scarlett, 5 scarlatte, scarlad, skarlot, 5–6 scarlot, skarlat, 5, 8 skarlett, 6 scarlette, skarlette, skarlote, skerlyt, 3– scarlet.
[Aphetic a. OF. escarlate n. fem. (mod.F. écarlate) = Pr. escarlat masc., -ata fem. In Fr. and Pr. recorded from the 12th c.; the other Rom. forms are later: Sp., Pg. escarlate, -ata, It. scarlatto, med.L. scarlat(t)um, -a, scarlettum (1204 in Excerpta Historica 393). In Teut. the word appears as ON. skarlat, skallat, MHG. scharlât, early mod.Flem. schaerlat; also, with etymologizing alteration (cf. lake n.5), MHG. scharlach(en, MLG., Du. scharlaken (whence Da. skarlagen, Sw. skarlakan, Icel. skarlak, skarlakan). From It. are prob. mod. Gr. σκαρλάτον, Church Slav. skrŭlato, Serbian skrlet, Turk. iskerlet.
If the OHG. scarlahhan, in a gloss explained as ‘shorn cloth’ (rasilis) be identical with this word (the interpretation as well as the form being due to popular etymology), it is the earliest evidence of its existence. It is hardly possible that this OHG. word can be the source of the Rom. forms. The prevailing view is that OF. escarlate is an alteration of Pers. saqalāt, siqalāt, suqlāt, a kind of rich cloth, a derivative of which appears as ciclatoun. (The form saqirlāt, given in some Arabic dictionaries, is modern and prob. adopted from some European language.)]
A. n.
1.
†a. In early use, some rich cloth, often of a bright red colour, but (according to Fr., MDu., and med.L. sources) also sometimes of other colours, as ‘pers’, blue, green, brown. Obs.
b. In later use, cloth or clothing of the colour described in 2.
† scarlet in grain (s. engreyned, grayned s., etc.): cloth fast dyed of a scarlet colour (cf. grain n.1 10 and ingrain a.). It is doubtful whether ‘scarlet and grene’, frequently occurring in ME. poetry in descriptions of splendid attire, originated in a misunderstanding of this phrase.
c1250Death 10 in O.E. Misc. 168 Ȝe þat sittet i-schrud wið skarlet and wið palle. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6390 A robe he let him ssape uerst of blod red scarlet þere. 13..K. Alis. 4987 Hy clothen hem with grys and ermyne With golde and siluer and skarlet pers fyne. 13..Reinbrun v, Scarlet and grene wel y-wrouȝt. c1375Cursor M. 25463 (Fairf.) Nauþer aske I skarlet ne grene Ne purtraied stede. c1380Sir Ferumb. 4464 And we han her scarletes & grene, & cloþes of tarse. c1386Chaucer Sir Thopas 16 His rode is lyk scarlet in grayn. a1400Morte Arth. 3459 And one he henttis a hode of scharlette fulle riche. 14..Guy of Warw. 8996 Hys lymmes were bare and euyll beseyn, That some tyme were clad in scarlet in greyne. a1420Wyclif's N.T., Rev. xviii. 16 Wo! wo! thilke greet citee, that was clothid with bijs and purpur, and reed scarlet. 1480Coventry Leet-bk. 438 The seid Recordor answered & saide that they shuld not be relesed þerof for þe best pece of scarlet in Englond. a1533Ld. Berners Huon ix. 23 Huon toke hys cloke of skerlat & wrappyd it about hys arme. 1545Rates Custom ho. d vj b, In primus a brode cloth payeth xii. A scarlette xxxiiii. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 52 b, The Mayre of London..appareled in orient grayned Skarlet. 1588Hickock tr. Frederick's Voy. 31 Ships bring cloth of Wooll, Scarlets, Veluets, Opium and Chickenes. 1649J. Master Daily Expense-bk. 4 Aug., For 4 ya & half of right french scarlet at 45s. 1662Comenius' Janua Ling. Triling. 96 Sattins, damasks, scarlets, cobweb-lawns [etc.]. 1796Burke Regic. Peace iv. Wks. IX. 123 An Ambassador, whose robes are lined with a scarlet dyed in the blood of Judges. 1859Tennyson Elaine 501 Then the trumpets blew Proclaiming his the prize, who wore the sleeve Of scarlet, and the pearls.
2. a. A brilliant vivid red colour, inclining to orange.
c1440Promp. Parv. 442/2 Scarlet, colowre, lutus. 1530Palsgr. 265/2 Scarlet a reed colour. 1648Herrick Hesper., Weeping Cherry, Which rubies, corals, scarlets, all For tincture, wonder at. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. iv. §11 His Friend demanding what Scarlet was? the blind Man answered, It was like the sound of a Trumpet. a1734R. North Life John North (1742) 237 Scarlet was commonly called the King's Colour. 1788Cowper Gratitude 29 This moveable structure of shelves,..Where flaming in scarlet and gold My poems enchanted I view. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. iii. §24. 53 In this chord the scarlet is the most powerful colour. 1894K. Grahame Pagan P. 68 A riot of scarlet on gold, the red poppy of our native fields tosses heavy tresses with gipsy abandon.
b. A pigment or dye of this colour. In recent use also spec., any one of a certain group of coal-tar colouring matters used in scarlet pigments and dyes.
1653Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year (1678) 333 A ship laden with Persian Carpets, and the ingredients of the rich Scarlet. 1672W. S. Polygraphice 178 For a Scarlet. Take Vermilion, and deepen it with Lake or Indian Red. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxi, He had already a high reputation in the district for his dyes, and he was bent on discovering some method by which he could reduce the expense of crimsons and scarlets. 1862O'Neill Dict. Calico Print. & Dyeing 61 The best scarlets are still obtained from cochineal alone as colouring matter. 1886tr. Benedikt's Chem. Coal-tar Colours 198 The scarlets have replaced cochineal to a considerable extent in wool-dyeing.
3. Official or ceremonial costume of scarlet, as the uniform of a soldier, the gown or robe of a doctor of divinity or law, a judge, a cardinal, etc.; also, the scarlet coat worn in the hunting field (= pink n. 6). Hence occas. the rank, dignity, or office signified by a scarlet robe.
1496in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 212 All they of the xxiiij that hath be maire shall ride in scarlett ayenste the Kynge. 1568T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 81 For Fortune may as then, make kings as pleaseth her: Since she the riche and noble men, to scarlets can prefer. 1610B. Jonson Alch. i. iii, This Summer He will be of the Clothing of his company. And, next spring, call'd to the Scarlet. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 110 The Lord Maior with his confraternity of Aldermen also mounted and in their Scarlets. 1685Rycaut Contn. Lives Popes 16 After this he made little account of his Scarlet, or degree of Cardinal. 1706Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 311 White Kennett..sometimes waited on Dr. Wallis to Church with his skarlett. 1764Oxf. Sausage 38 The splendid Fortunes and the beauteous Face..Too soon are caught by Scarlet and by Lace. 1885Field 7 Feb. 147/3 A good man in scarlet is down at the first fence. 1891Morris Poems by the Way (1896) 17 What mayor shall rule the hall we built? Whose scarlet sweep the floor?
4.
†a. One who wears a scarlet uniform or insignia; e.g. a judge. Obs.
c1610Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. i. (1622) 70 Doe the Lords bow, and the regarded scarlets, Kisse their gumd gols, and cry we are your seruants? 1628Feltham Resolves i. viii. 18 Open Rebukes are for Magistrates, and Courts of Iustice: for Stelled Chambers, and for Scarlets, in the thronged Hall.
b. occas. Persons clothed in scarlet; men in the hunting field (cf. pink n. 6 b) or on the golf links; also soldiers in red uniform.
1827Sporting Mag. XIX. 353 The whole field was fairly pounded: I was one among the number, and consider myself a good bit of scarlet too. 1842G. F. Carnegie Golfiana in R. Clark Golf (1875) 150 He whirls his club to catch the proper swing, And freely bets round all the scarlet ring. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxxv, Gay the files of scarlet follow.
†5. ? An aristocratic street ruffian, a Mohock.
1755J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 437, I expected to have seen her..encouraging the young bloods, bucks and scarlets at a riot in Drury-lane.
6. Short for scarlet strawberry (see B. 4 c).
1815Sir J. Banks in Trans. Hort. Soc. I. 55. 1824 J. Barnet Ibid. (1826) VI. 155 Princess Charlotte's Strawberry..is perhaps the richest of all the Scarlets. 1828Trans. Hort. Soc. (1830) VII. 345 Old Scarlet.
7. A small moth, Erastria ostrina.
1832J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 97 The Scarlet (E. ostrina, Curtis) appears in June.
B. adj. (Originally the n. used attrib.)
1. a. Having, or pertaining to, the colour scarlet (see A. 2).
c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 559 Therfore I made my visitacions,..And wered vpon my gaye scarlet gytes. 1436in E.E. Wills (1882) 107 All-so I wol that Iohn Melbourne haue my scarlet goune furred with martrouns. 1479in Eng. Gilds (1870) 415 He to come in..his Skarlat cloke furred. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xlvi, Purpour colour, punik and skarlote hewis. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 248 Sixe maides, all in one liuerie of skarlette petticotes. a1633T. Taylor God's Judgem. ii. vii. (1642) 110 He kept two or three tall fellowes in Skarlet Liveries. 1677Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 386 The chancellour,..and the rest of his retinew, put on scarlet habits. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. T. 1 Apr., Mine [sc. a sofa] is of scarlet cloth, with a gold fringe. 1784Cowper Task i. 320 The sycamore, capricious in attire, Now green, now tawny, and ere autumn yet Have chang'd the woods, in scarlet honours bright. 1816Keats To my Brother George 130 The poppies show their scarlet coats. 1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 722 She also now had a scarlet eruption.
b. Clothed in scarlet, wearing a scarlet uniform or distinguishing dress.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iii. 56 Out Tawney-Coates, out Scarlet Hypocrite. 1642Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 280 The invincible warriour Zeale shaking loosely the slack reins drives over the heads of Scarlet Prelats and such as are insolent to maintaine traditions. 1902Words of Eyewitness 3 There is no more universally beloved individual in the world than this same scarlet Atkins.
c. Red with shame or indignation. † Also transf., blushing, indignant.
1865Baring-Gould Werewolves xii. 222 Several times his face had become scarlet, and his eyes had fallen. 1881W. H. Mallock Rom. 19th Cent. II. 120 She flushed scarlet.
transf.1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 99 But ere the Crowne he lookes for, liue in peace, Ten thousand bloody crownes of Mothers Sonnes Shall ill become the flower of Englands face, Change the complexion of her Maid-pale Peace To Scarlet Indignation.
2. fig.
a. Of an offence (after Isa. i. 18), hence occas. of an offender: Heinous, deep-dyed.
[1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 255 (To Wolsey) Thou scarlet sinne.] 1641J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 206 Who doth forgive..even foul sins, crimson, scarlet iniquities, upon humiliation. 1656Sir G. Wharton Hemerol., Proanaph. 30 The Final cause [of earthquakes], is a sign of an Angry God, justly provoked by the Scarlet crimes of a sinful People. 1709Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) IV. 97 How preach up, as thou dost, Vertue and Moderation, when thy self art Scarlet deep tinged with the highest Crimes?
b. in allusions to the glaring effect of the colour.
1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 16 The deathblow which had been struck at scarlet vice and bloated hypocrisy.
3. General combinations:
a. parasynthetic, as scarlet-barred, scarlet-blossomed, scarlet-breasted, scarlet-circled, scarlet-coated, scarlet-coloured, scarlet-crested, scarlet-flowered, scarlet-haired, scarlet-moustached adjs.; frequent in specific names of animals and plants. scarlet-chested (grass) parrakeet, parrot, a small blue and green parrot with a red breast, Neophema splendida, found in parts of southern Australia.
1832J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 227 The *Scarlet Barred Gold (Lampronia sanguinella, Stephens).
1845Florist's Jrnl. 178 The well-known *scarlet-blossomed currant.
1822Latham Gen. Hist. Birds II. 121 *Scarlet-breasted Parrot... Inhabits New-Holland.
1901A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs Austral. Birds II. 654 (heading) *Scarlet-chested Grass Parrakeet. 1931N. W. Cayley What Bird is That? 152 Scarlet-chested Parrot... Rarely recorded, then only as isolated pairs. 1938― Austral. Parrots 283, I had the pleasure of seeing the Scarlet-chested Parrakeet living happily and breeding freely. 1977Weekly Times (Melbourne) 19 Jan. 23/3 Mrs Jones (West Hobart) would be interested to hear from any reader who would exchange orange-breasted wax-bills for scarlet-chested parrots.
1704Pope Windsor For. 116 His purple crest, and *scarlet-circled eyes.
1693R. Duke in Dryden's Juvenal iv. (1697) 78 So many Sesterces were swallow'd down, To stuff one *Scarlet-coated Court Buffoon.
1617Hieron Wks. (1619) II. 317 The citie of Rome..may shew her selfe to bee indeed that *Scarlet-coloured Harlot, described by John in his Reuelation.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Lychnis, The lesser *scarlet flowered Constantinople lychnis.
1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 419/1 The *Scarlet-Haired Poppy.
1872Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 192 Bill dark; *scarlet-crested, *scarlet-moustached.
b. qualifying the name of a colour, as scarlet-crimson, scarlet-red, scarlet-vermilion.
1882Garden 7 Oct. 312/2 Of older self-flowers..Joseph Green, bright *scarlet-crimson.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 456 Hir hosen weren of fyn *scarlet reed. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 13 A goodly Lady clad in scarlot red. a1711Ken Christophil Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 510 She saw the Place where Jesus bled, And dy'd the Turff of Scarlet-red. 1882Garden 29 July 104/2 It has flowers..of bright scarlet-red hue.
Ibid. 25 Mar. 196/2 Many drooping flowers..of a brilliant *scarlet-vermilion hue.
4. a. Special collocations: scarlet-day, † scarlet-gown day, an occasion in university or civic life observed by the public wearing of state or official robes of scarlet; † scarlet-grain = alkermes 1, cf. kermes; scarlet lady, an abusive epithet applied to the Church of Rome in allusion to Rev. xvii. 1–5; Scarlet Lancers, nickname for the 16th Lancers, from their distinctive red tunic; scarlet letter chiefly U.S., a representation of the letter A in scarlet cloth which persons convicted of adultery were condemned to wear, as described in the novel by Hawthorne (see quot. 1850); also in fig. and allusive use (cf. brand n. 4 b); Scarlet Pimpernel (see also sense 4 c), the name assumed by the hero of a series of novels by Baroness Orczy (1865–1947), a dashing but elusive Englishman who rescued potential victims of the French Reign of Terror, used allusively; also attrib.; cf. pimpernel 4; scarlet rash, a scarlet eruption, symptomatic of certain diseases; † scarlet runner Obs. Mil. slang, a soldier, with reference to his scarlet jacket; also pl., a scarlet military uniform; scarlet ward, a part of a fever hospital reserved for patients suffering from scarlet fever; scarlet whore = scarlet lady above; scarlet woman, orig. = scarlet lady above; now used to mean: a notoriously immoral woman; a prostitute.
1632–33in Publ. Colon. Soc. Mass. VIII. 361 [That the lecturer should preach on all the] *scarlet days, as they name them. 1721Amherst Terræ-Fil. No. 39 (1726) II. 51 He preached it upon a scarlet day, when the vice-chancellor and all the doctors go to church in red. 1888Daily News 11 June 5/7 In University parlance it was a Scarlet Day.
1710J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. iii. (ed. 23) 663* The *Scarlet-Gown Days in the University of Oxford.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. xxx. 1158 The Oke which beareth the *scarlet graine is a small tree. 1601Holland Pliny xxvii. ix. II. 280 The berrie Coccum Gnidium, in colour resembleth the Scarlet graine.
1807Syd. Smith Peter Plymley's Lett. ii, I will not dispute with you whether the Pope be or be not the *Scarlet Lady of Babylon. 1873Punch 23 Aug. 72/2 Let us be just even to the Scarlet Lady.
1885‘J. S. Winter’ (title) Bootles' Baby: a story of the *Scarlet Lancers.
1850N. Hawthorne (title) The *scarlet letter. 1872Cincinnati (Ohio) Times & Chron. 28 May 2/1 A grand mass meeting in Gotham the other night consecrated Apollo Hall by unfurling therein the scarlet letter—we mean banner—of Woodhull and Free Love. 1882Internat. Rev. Mar. 301 Polygamy is the scarlet letter upon the brow of this young commonwealth which proclaims her deep shame and forbids her entrance into the sisterhood of States. 1944W. J. Carrington Safe Convoy 112 However, a few minutes later when the unwanted visitor arrived, she directed her venomous tongue against the daughter whom she branded from head to foot with verbal scarlet letters. 1965M. Drabble Millstone 20, I walked around with a scarlet letter embroidered upon my bosom..but the A stood for Abstinence, not for Adultery. 1977D. Anthony Stud Game xxi. 132 You hard-shelled Baptist prig. You can't see past the scarlet letter, can you?
1958E. H. Clements Uncommon Cold vii. 178 As for cloak-and-dagger work on the moor, what price your family of *Scarlet Pimpernels? 1958Observer 25 May 15/5 George Baker..appears as a Scarlet Pimpernel type. 1961Guardian 24 May 11/3 A war⁓time Scarlet Pimpernel organisation which rescued thousands of East European Jews from the Nazis. 1977M. Drabble Ice Age iii. 287 The image of Anthony as Scarlet Pimpernel, flying out to rescue stepdaughter in distress.
1822–29Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) III. 16 The angina gangrænosa (sore throat with *scarlet-rash) usually commences in the winter or the spring.
c1864Brough & Halliday Area Belle 7 Who are you calling bluebottle?—you *scarlet runner! 1920G. Frankau Peter Jackson vii. 78 ‘A few of our old militia uniforms.’ ‘Not the old scarlet-runners?’... ‘The identical, sir, with the old white facings.’
1888H. Morten Sk. Hosp. Life 51 The laconic order, ‘To the *Scarlet Ward’, is given.
1590Spenser F. Q. i. viii. 29 Forthwith he gaue in charge vnto his Squire, That *scarlot whore to keepen carefully. 1648Winyard Midsummer-Moon 1 The Scarlet-whore of Babylon spawn'd it with her menstruous profluviums. 1709Tatler No. 190 ⁋2 Nor yet did that Epistle at all come unto thee from the Mansion-House of the Scarlet Whore.
1816Southey Poet's Pilgr. ii. iii. 10 note, I have seen her somewhere called the *Scarlet Woman. 1853T. Parker Theism, Atheism, & Popular Theology 131 Atheism turns the soul out of doors, and the flesh has no better time of it; no, has a worse time, with its scarlet woman ‘tinging the pavement with proud wine too good for the tables of pontiffs’. 1867Lowell Gt. Publ. Char. Wks. 1890 II. 274 The latter old lady [sc. the Church of Rome] may be the Scarlet Woman, or the Beast with ten horns, if you will. 1924in H. Havelock Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex (ed. 3) II. 124, I sought out a scarlet woman in the streets of ― and went home with her. 1977M. Kenyon Rapist x. 115 ‘Is this me?’ She was holding..a turtle-neck jersey dress... ‘Or would you hazard it's..old-fashioned for the scarlet woman of the bogs?’
b. In names of birds, insects, etc.: scarlet cantharis, a beetle, Cantharis cardinalis; scarlet finch, Fringilla coccinea (Shaw); scarlet grosbeak, the Cardinal-bird; scarlet ibis, Eudocimus ruber, a bird congeneric with the typical Ibis, native in tropical America; scarlet lory, a name given to several birds of the Parrot-tribe; scarlet macaw, Psittacus macao, a parrot native in S. America and the West Indies; scarlet mite, Trombidium holosericeum; scarlet mussel, a shell-fish (see quot.); scarlet rose-finch, Carpodacus erythrinus (cf. rose-finch s.v. rose n. 24 b); scarlet snake, a name applied to two colubriform snakes of tropical America (see quot.); scarlet sparrow, Tanagra rubra; scarlet spoonbill, Platalea ajaja; scarlet tanager, the red bird, Pyranga rubra; scarlet tiger (moth), Hypercampa dominula.
1806Shaw Gen. Zool. VI. 81 One of the most elegant insects of this genus is the *Scarlet Cantharis.
1783Latham Synopsis Birds III. 270 *Scarlet Finch... Inhabits Sandwich Islands.
1837Gould Birds of Europe III. Pl. 206 *Scarlet Grosbeak.
1785Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 458 *Scarlet Ibis. 1835J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. V. 62, I have found the Scarlet Ibis less numerous than even the Glossy Ibis. 1971Country Life 22 July 220/1 The vivid colouring of the scarlet ibis is as expressive of the South American tropics as the bright colours of macaws and toucans.
1751G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds iv. 172 The *Scarlet Lory. 1811Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 533 Psittacus grandis..Scarlet Lory.
Ibid. 386 The *Scarlet Maccaw.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 492 The little *scarlet mite..(Trombidium holosericeum).
1672Phil. Trans. VII. 5022 The *Scarlet-Mustle, having a purple-vein, which being prickt with a needle yeilds a perfect Purple or Scarlet Juyce that will not be washt out of the Linnen died therewith.
1884H. Seebohm Hist. Brit. Birds II. 47 The *Scarlet Rose-finch is not particularly interesting at its breeding-grounds. 1976J. T. R. & E. M. Sharrock Rare Birds in Britain & Ireland 284 Scarlet Rosefinch..breeds from Germany and southern Sweden eastwards to Kamchatka.
1842Holbrook N. Amer. Herpet. III. 127 Rhinostoma coccinea... The *Scarlet Snake. Ibid., The ‘Couleuvre écarlate’ (Scarlet Snake) of Bosc is quite another animal, doubtless the Calamaria elapsoidea.
1764G. Edwards Glean. Nat. Hist. iii. 278 The *Scarlet Sparrow.
1819Shaw Gen. Zool. XI. 642 *Scarlet Spoonbill.
1808–13A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. (1831) II. 226 *Scarlet Tanager.
1832J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 42 The *Scarlet Tiger (Hypercampa Dominula, Stephens) appears in June.
c. In names of plants and fruits: scarlet banana, Musa coccinea; scarlet-bean = scarlet runner below; scarlet cardinal-flower, scarlet lobelia, Lobelia cardinalis (see cardinal-flower); scarlet convolvulus, Ipomæa coccinea; scarlet geranium, a pelargonium with scarlet blossoms, largely used as a bedding-plant (see geranium 2 and Pelargonium); scarlet maple, Acer rubrum; scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea (see oak 1 b); also † the Holm Oak, Quercus Ilex; scarlet painted-cup (see painted ppl. a. 4); scarlet pea (see quot.); scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis (see pimpernel 3 and 3 b); scarlet runner (bean), a red- or white-flowered climbing bean, Phaseolus coccineus, or its edible pods; scarlet sage, Salvia fulgens, a native of Mexico (Miller Plant-n. 1884, 245); also S. splendens, a native of Brazil (Cent. Dict. 1891); scarlet seed, a name of two tropical trees (see quot. 1866); scarlet strawberry, any cultivated variety of the Virginian Strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, having scarlet ‘fruit’; scarlet thorn, Cratægus coccinea.
1885A. Brassey The Trades 29 The *scarlet banana.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Phaseolus, The *Scarlet Bean. 1852Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 168 Some scarlet beans that were growing in his own piece of garden. 1698*Scarlet Cardinal-Flower [see cardinal-flower]. 1856O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. x. (1895) 253 Dream of that winding shore Where scarlet cardinals bloom—for me no more.
1823Crabb Technol. Dict. s.v. Scarlet, *Scarlet-Convolvulus. 1760*Scarlet geranium [see geranium 2]. 1870Ruskin Lect. Art vi. 162 There are few flowers of which the impression on the eye is more definitely of flat colour, than the scarlet geranium. 1874*Scarlet lobelia [see lobelia].
1768P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 8) s.v. Acer. I have observed, upon cutting off branches from the *scarlet Maple in February, a great quantity of a very sweet juice hath flowed out. 1813H. Muhlenberg Catal. Plant. Amer. Sept. 95 Scarlet, white, red, or soft maple. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 79/2 The nursery-men usually call this species the cut-leaved scarlet maple. 1916E. T. Seton Woodcraft Man. for Girls 292 Red, Scarlet, Water, or Swamp Maple... Noted for its flaming crimson foliage in fall, as well as its red leaf-stalks, flowers, and fruit earlier.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. xxx. 1159 For want of a fit English name, we haue thought good to christen it by the name of *Scarlet Oke, or Scarlet Holme Oke: for Ilex is named of some in English Holme. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 148 The Scarlet-Oak, or Holm. 1882Garden 13 May 323/3 A specimen of the Scarlet Oak.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. App. s.v. Pea, *Scarlet Pea,..the English name of a genus of plants, called by Linnæus Glycine.
1855Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 238 *Scarlet Pimpernel.
1786J. Abercrombie Gardener's Daily Assistant p. vii, A list of kitchen-garden plants... Kidney Bean (Dwarf)..*Scarlet Runner. 1806B. McMahon Amer. Gard. Cal. 580 Bean, The Dwarf Kidney... Running kinds..Scarlet Runners. 1824Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) §3634 The scarlet runner ranks first for its prolific property and long continuance in fruit. 1908Garden 25 Apr. 205/2 Possibly there is not a vegetable grown that is a more general favourite among amateurs than the climbing bean known as the Scarlet Runner. 1969Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 36/1 The Scarlet Runner is by far the most popular green bean in Britain.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 368 The *Scarlet-seed. 1866Treas. Bot., Scarlet-Seed. Ternströmia obovalis, and Lætia Thamnia.
1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 256 The *scarlet strawberry.
1882Garden 12 Aug. 145/3 The *scarlet Thorn..is a bold, vigorous-growing American species.
Hence ˈscarletness. rare.
1611Florio, Scarletezza, rednesse, scarletnesse.
▪ II. † ˈscarlet, v. Obs.
[f. scarlet n.]
trans. To clothe in scarlet; to colour scarlet. Chiefly pass. Hence ˈscarleted ppl. a., in quot. tinged with scarlet.
1553Bale Vocacyon 10 The Idolatour, the tyraunt, and the whoremonger are no mete mynisters for hym, though they be neuer so..fynely forced, pylyoned, and scarletted. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 49 The whole earth is almost a purple Island, scarletted and redded with the bloud of Martyrs. 1685Sir G. Mackenzie Religious Stoic ii. 23 At which we should scarlet our cheeks with blushes. 1688R. Holme Armoury iv. ix. (Roxb.) 382/1 Fine scarletted murrey. |