lac
1[ lak ]
/ læk /
|
noun
a resinous substance deposited on the twigs of various trees in southern Asia by the female of the lac insect: used in the manufacture of varnishes, sealing wax, etc., and in the production of a red coloring matter.Compare shellac(defs 1, 2).
Nearby words
- labyrinthine vein,
- labyrinthine vertigo,
- labyrinthitis,
- labyrinthodont,
- labyrinthotomy,
- lac insect,
- lacan,
- lacan, jacques,
- laccadive islands,
- laccadive, minicoy, and amindivi islands
Origin of lac
11545–55; < Hindi lākh ≪ Sanskrit lākṣā
lac
2[ lahk ]
/ lɑk /
noun
(in India)
the sum of 100,000, especially of rupees. The usual punctuation for sums of Indian money above a lac is with a comma after the number of lacs: Rs. 30,52,000 (i.e., 30 lacs and 52,000) instead of 3,052,000.
an indefinitely large number.
Also lakh.
Origin of lac
21605–15; < Hindi lākh ≪ Sanskrit lakṣa
lac
3[ lak ]
/ læk /
noun
(in prescriptions) milk.
Origin of lac
3From Latin
LAC
leading aircraftsman.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for lac
lac
1/ (læk) /
noun
a resinous substance secreted by certain lac insects, used in the manufacture of shellac
Word Origin for lac
C16: from Dutch lak or French laque, from Hindi lākh resin, ultimately from Sanskrit lākshā
noun
a variant spelling of lakh
LAC
/ British /
abbreviation for
leading aircraftman
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lac
"red resinous substance," 1550s (perhaps via Middle French lacce), earlier lacca (early 15c., from Medieval Latin form lacca), from Persian lak, from Hindi lakh (Prakrit lakkha), from Sanskrit laksha "red dye," which according to Klein is literally "one hundred thousand," in reference to the insects that gather in great numbers on the trees and make the resin run out. But others say lakh is an alteration of Sanskrit rakh, from an IE root word for "color, dye" [Watkins]. Still another guess is that Sanskrit laksha is related to English lax, lox "salmon," and the substance was perhaps originally so called from being somewhat the color of salmon [Barnhart].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
lac
[ lăk ]
n.
Milk.
A whitish, milky looking liquid.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.