lakh
‘one hundred thousand’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. laches, leake, lacque, lac < F. lacce < lacca < Med.Lat. lacca < Pers. lak < Hin. lakh < Skt. laksha ‘red dye’ < lak < arakku ‘resin’ < Tamil ar
Semantic evolution: According to Klein, it means literally "one hundred thousand" and is a reference to the insects that gather in great numbers on the trees and create the resin.