InIndian English, the word is used both as anattributive and non-attributive noun with either an unmarked or marked ("-s") plural, respectively. For example: "1lakh people"; "lakhs of people"; "20lakhrupees"; "lakhs of rupees". In the abbreviated form, usage such as "₹5L" or "₹5 lac" (for "5lakh rupees") is common.[4] In this system of numeration, 100lakh is called onecrore[3] and is equal to 10 million.
Formal written publications in English in India tend to uselakh andcrore forIndian currency and Western numbering for foreign currencies, such asdollars andpounds.[5]
The term is also used in the pricing of silver on the internationalprecious metals market, where onelakh equals 100,000troy ounces (3,110 kilograms) ofsilver.[6][7]
The modern wordlakh derives fromSanskrit:लक्ष,romanized: lakṣa, originally denoting "mark, target, stake in gambling", but also used as the numeral for "100,000" inGupta-era Classical Sanskrit (Yājñavalkya Smṛti,Harivaṃśa).[8]
^Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley (1985)."lakṣá10881"."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. p. 629. Archived fromthe original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved22 August 2010.lakṣh masculine "stake, prize" R̥igved, "mark, sign" Mahābhārat, "100,000" Yājñavalkya, "aim" Kālidās]
