lakh
/lɑk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.24 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
num
One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000.
noun
noun
Often in the plural: an indefinitely large number; a zillion.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "After a hunt lasting more than a year-and-a-half, police have arrested a couple for duping around 2 lakh people in one of India's biggest investment frauds involving an estimated Rs 1,100 crore."
- "According to data published in WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record, India's annualised non-polio AFP rate for 2011 stood at 15.06 per one lakh children below 15 years of age, compared to a global rate that year of 5.48."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂lek- Sanskrit रक्ष् (rakṣ)? Sanskrit लक्ष् (lakṣ) Sanskrit लक्ष (lakṣa) Hindustanibor. English lakh 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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /lɑk/
- British English: /lɑk/