Lakh Explained

A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac^[1]) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 10⁵).^[1] In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000.^[2] For example, in India, 150,000 rupees becomes 1.5 lakh rupees, written as 1,50,000 or INR 1,50,000.

It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is often used in Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan English.

Usage

In Indian English, the word is used both as an attributive and non-attributive noun with either an unmarked or marked ("-s") plural, respectively. For example: "1 lakh people"; "lakhs of people"; "20 lakh rupees"; "lakhs of rupees". In the abbreviated form, usage such as "5L" or "5 lac" (for "5 lakh rupees") is common.^[3] In this system of numeration, 100 lakh is called one crore^[2] and is equal to 10 million.

Silver market

The term is also used in the pricing of silver on the international precious metals market, where one lakh equals 100000lk=inNaNlk=in of silver.^[4] ^[5]

Etymology and regional variants

The modern word lakh derives from Sanskrit: लक्ष|translit=lakṣa, originally denoting "mark, target, stake in gambling", but also used as the numeral for "100,000" in Gupta-era Classical Sanskrit (Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Harivaṃśa).^[6]

In Assamese: Assamese: লক্ষ lokhyo, or Assamese: লাখ lakh
In Bengali: natively (tadbhava) known as Bengali: লাখ lākh, though some use the ardha-tatsama Bengali: লক্ষ lokkho.
In Hindi: lākh
In Dhivehi: la'kha
In Gujarati: Gujarati: લાખ lākh
In Kannada: Kannada: ಲಕ್ಷ lakṣha
In Kashmiri: Kashmiri: {{nastaliq|لَچھ lachh
In Khasi:
In Malayalam: laksham
In Marathi: lākh/laksha
In Meitei: ꯂꯥꯛ lāk
In Nepali: lākh
In Odia: Oriya: ଲକ୍ଷ låkhyå
In Punjabi: (Shahmukhi: Panjabi; Punjabi: {{nastaliq|لکھ, Gurmukhi: Panjabi; Punjabi: ਲੱਖ) lakkh
In Sinhala: Sinhala; Sinhalese: ලක්ෂ
In Tamil: latcham
In Telugu: laksha
In Urdu: Urdu: {{nastaliq|لاکھ lākh

External links

Web site: IINRG. Ranchi. Government Organisation. 22 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20180929175743/http://ilri.ernet.in/. 29 September 2018. dead.

Notes and References

lakh . How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement . Russ . Rowlett . . 15 December 2008 . 1998 . 29 August 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160702030033/http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictL.html . 2 July 2016 .
Lakh . 16 . 94.
Book: Posamentier. Alfred S.. Understanding Mathematics Through Problem Solving. Poole. Peter. 23 March 2020. World Scientific. 978-981-4663-69-4.
News: Gilkes. Paul. CME Group/Thomson Reuters step down from executing the London silver fix. 5 July 2017. 3 July 2017.
Web site: Units of Measure. perthmint.com.au. 6 September 2015. 24 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924071802/http://www.perthmint.com.au/education_uom.aspx. dead.
Web site: lakṣá10881 . https://archive.today/20121215010456/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.3:88.soas . dead . 15 December 2012 . 22 August 2010 . Turner . Sir Ralph Lilley . Ralph Lilley Turner . 1985 . "lakṣhá 10881" in: 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 . 629 . lakṣh masculine "stake, prize" R̥igved, "mark, sign" Mahābhārat, "100,000" Yājñavalkya, "aim" Kālidās] .