What is "scarlet letter"

n. (context historical English) A letter A in scarlet cloth required to be worn by those convicted of adultery in 17th-century Puritan New England.

n. the letter A in red; Puritans required adulterers to wear it

The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Scarlet Letter or Scarlet Letters may also refer to:

• A unifying symbol adopted by atheists in deference to use of the same symbol in Hawthorne's 1850 novel, which discussed the scarlet letter A that individuals convicted of adultery would wear in Puritan society. Although initially associated chiefly with the Out Campaign, the 'Scarlet Letter' (being a stylised letter 'A' rendered in bright red) has since come to represent any person's open self-identification as an atheist, especially in the face of hostility or vilification.
• The Scarlet Letters, 1953 novel by Ellery Queen
• "Scarlet Letters" (song), 2009 song by Mudvayne
• The Scarlet Letter (opera), 1896 opera based on the novel, composed by Walter Damrosch
• The Scarlet Letter (Kroll opera), 1965 opera based on the novel, composed by Fredric Kroll
• The Scarlet Letter (Laitman opera), opera based on the novel, composed by Lori Laitman
• The Scarlet Letter (TV miniseries), a 1979 miniseries starring Meg Foster, Kevin Conway, and John Heard