Lakh
A lakh (
/ˈlæk/ LAK or /ˈlɑːk/ LAHK; also lac; abbreviated L; Hindi: लाख, Nepali: लाख, Bengali: লাখ, Urdu: لاکھ) is a unit in the South Asian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; 105), written as 1,00,000. It is widely used both in official and other contexts in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.
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[edit] Usage
In English the word is used both as an attributive and non-attributive noun, and with either a marked ("-s") or unmarked plural: "1 lakh people" or "1 lakh of people", "200 lakh Rupee, "5 lakh of rupees", "10 lakhs rupees", "5 lakhs of rupees" are all to be found. In the abbreviated form, usage such as "
5L" (for Rupees 5 lakh) is common.
The Indian numbering system also uses separators differently from the Western system besides the three least significant digits of the integer part, a comma divides every two rather than every three digits, thus:
| Indian System | Western System |
|---|---|
| 12,12,12,123 | 121,212,123 |
| 5,05,000 | 505,000 |
| 7,00,00,00,000 | 7,000,000,000 |
This accords with the Indian numbering system, which has units for thousand, hundred thousand, ten million, etc.
[edit] Etymology and regional variants
The root of the word lakh may be Pali lakkha—masculine mark, target, stake in gambling; from the latter derived the numerical meaning, "one hundred thousand".[1] Or its root may be Sanskrit laksha (Devanagari: लक्ष) which has similar meanings in Sanskrit.
[edit] South Asian languages
- Assamese: লাখ lakh
- Bengali: লাখ lakh or লক্ষ lokkho
- Dhivehi: ލައްކަ lakka
- Gujarati: લાખ lākh
- Hindi: लाख lākh
- Bombay Hindi: पेटी peti (peṭi)
(Peṭi refers to a briefcase. That is the amount of money in Rs. 100 notes that can fit into a briefcase.)
- Bombay Hindi: पेटी peti (peṭi)
- Kannada: ಲಕ್ಷ lakṣa
- Kashmiri: lach
- Konkani: लाख lākh or लक्ष lakṣa
- Malayalam: ലക്ഷം lakṣhum
- Marathi: लाख lākh or लक्ष lakṣa
- Nepali: लाख lākh
- Oriya: ଲକ୍ଷ lakhya
- Pashto: لک lak
- Persian: لک lak
- Punjabi: ਲੱਖ/لکھ lakkh
- Romany: लाख lakh
- Sanskrit: लक्ष lakṣá
- Sindhi: lakhu
- Sinhalese: ලක්ෂ laksha
- Tamil : லட்சம் latcham
- Telugu: లక్ష lakṣa
- Urdu: لاکھ lākh
[edit] Non-South Asian languages
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- Arabic:لاك lāk
- Azerbaijiani: lakca
- Greek: lákka
- Kapampangan Language: laksâ
- Malay Languages: laksa
- Maltese: gommalakka
- Swahili: laki or lakhi
- Tagalog: laksa
- Thai: ลักขะ lakkha or ลักษะ laksa (from Pali lakkha and Sanskrit lakśa respectively; obsolete as a numeral, but otherwise retains root meaning in Thai numeral place value, Lak Mueang, and Thai milestones)
- Turkic Languages: laka
[edit] See also
- Crore (= 100 lakh)
- Myriad
- Names of large numbers
- Names of numbers in English
[edit] References
- ^ Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley (1985). "lakṣá10881". A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages. London: Oxford University Press, 1962-1966. Includes three supplements, published 1969-1985. Digital South Asia Library, a project of the Center for Research Libraries and the University of Chicago. p. 629. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.3:88.soas. Retrieved 22 Aug 2010. "lakṣá10881 lakṣá masculine ʻ stake, prize ʼ R̥gveda, ʻ mark, sign ʼ Mahābhārata, ʻ 100,000 ʼ Yājñavalkya, ʻ aim ʼ Kālidāsa, lakṣya— neuter, masculine ʻ aim ʼ Muṇḍ Upaniṣad, ʻ prize ʼ Mahābhārata, , ʻ 100,000 ʼ Mahābhārata, . [√lakṣ. For derivation from root to become numeral, see Addenda: Pali lakkha— masculine ʻ mark, target, stake in gambling ʼ; Oṛiyā lākha, nākha ʻ aim, distinguishing mark ʼ, lācha ʻ brand ʼ; Gujarātī lāchɔ masculine ʻ burning the feet ʼ; Marāṭhī lās masculine ʻ mark made by cautery ʼ, neuter.]"
- IINRG, Ranchi. "Government Organisation". http://ilri.ernet.in.
