A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 10<sup>5</sup>). <!--The commas here are in their proper place. Please do not change to 1,00,000--> In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. 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. In this system of numeration, 100 lakh is called one crore
Silver market
The term is also used in the pricing of silver on the international precious metals market, where one lakh equals of silver.
Etymology and regional variants
The modern word lakh derives from , originally denoting "mark, target, stake in gambling", but also used as the numeral for "100,000" in Gupta-era Classical Sanskrit (Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Harivaṃśa).
; By language
- Assamese: lokhyo, or lakh
- Bengali: natively (tadbhava) known as lākh, though some use the ardha-tatsama lokkho.
- Bhojpuri: 𑂪𑂰𑂎 lākh
- Bishnupriya Manipuri: লাখ lākha
- Hindustani: (Hindi: , Urdu: ) lākh
- Dhivehi: lakka
- Gujarati: lākh
- Kannada: lakṣha
- Kashmiri: lachh
- Khasi:
- Malayalam: laksham
- Marathi: lākh/laksha
- Meitei: ꯂꯥꯛ lāk
- Nepali: lākh
- Odia: låkhyå
- Punjabi: (Shahmukhi: , Gurmukhi: ) lakkh
- Sanskrit:
- Sinhala:
- Tamil: latcham
- Telugu: laksha
See also
- Crore (100 lakh, or 10 million)
- English numerals
- Myriad
- Names of large numbers