Lakh

//lɑkʰ// noun, num

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One hundred thousand rupees. Myanmar, South-Asia

    "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."

  2. 2
    the cardinal number that is the fifth power of ten wordnet
  3. 3
    Often in the plural: an indefinitely large number; a zillion. Myanmar, South-Asia, figuratively

    "[…] 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."

Numeral
  1. 1
    One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000. Myanmar, South-Asia

    "Holonym: crore"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

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”).

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: lakh