lakh
numeralnounattested in dialogue
- United States//lɑk//
- United States//læk//
- //lɑkʰ//
One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000.
numeral
- 1
One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000.
Holonym: crore
They ſay the VVorld ſhall laſt foure Ages; or VVorlds, vvhereof three are paſt. The firſt laſted ſeuenteene Laches (euery Laches containeth a hundred thouſand yeares) and 28000 yeares. Men in that VVorld liued tenne thouſand yeares, vvere of great ſtature of bodie, and great ſinceritie of minde.
[T]he Mahrattas having offered Alimerdy Khan his liberty for a lak of Pagodas [a unit of currency]; he does in the Nabob's name desire that the Governor of Madras would receive jewels and money to that amount into his custody, […]
[S]he had gone out to India to keep house for her expensive, raffish father, and she had lived there in splendid style even after her marriage to a penniless young man, her father's aide-de-camp, […] But they were both killed in the same engagement against Tippoo Sahib, her father owing ten lakhs of rupees and her husband nearly half that sum.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindustani लाख or لاکھ (lākh), from Sanskrit लक्ष (lakṣa), from लक्ष् (lakṣ, “to mark; to sign; to observe, perceive”), possibly from रक्ष् (rakṣ, “to observe (a duty, law, etc.); to guard, protect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂lek- (“to protect”).
noun
- 1
One hundred thousand rupees.
Since my arriual heere, there vvas ſent vnto this King one of the richeſt preſents that I haue heard to be ſent to any Prince in all my life time: […] the vvhole Preſent vvas vvorth ten of their Leakes, as they call them; a Leak being ten thouſand pound ſterling: the vvhole, a hundred thouſand pounds ſterling.
INprimis, of Rupias Ecbery, thirteene Crou (euery Crou is an hundred Leckes, and euery Leck an hundred thouſand Rupias) or one thouſand three hundred Leckes.
Who has not admired that noble speech of my Lord [Robert] Clive, when reproached on his return from India with making rather too free with jaghires, lakhs, gold mohurs, diamonds, pearls, and what not: "Upon my life," said the hero of Plassy, "when I think of my opportunities, I am surprised I took so little!"
- 2
figurativeOften in the plural: an indefinitely large number; a zillion.
[…] Lake [i.e., Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake] should not have leisure to breathe for a moment, and calamities would fall on lacs of human beings in continued war by the attacks of his army, which would overwhelm like the waves of the sea.
The Laccadives and Maldives, for instance, meaning literally the "lac of islands" and the "thousand islands," are a series of such atolls; […]
Forms
- plural
- lakhs
lakh · One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000.
Lakshmi · The Hindu goddess of wealth, the consort of Vishnu and…Lala · A language spoken in Papua New Guinea.lam · To beat or thrash.