Etymology Dictionary

LAC (1),  a resinous substance.  (Pers.,—Skt.)   A resinous substance produced mainly upon the banyan-tree by an insect called the Coccus lacca.   'Lacca, a kind of red gum;' Kersey's Dict., ed. 1715.—Pers. lak, luk, 'the substance commonly called gum-lac, being the nidus of an insect found deposited on certain trees in India, and from which a beautiful red lake is extracted, used in dyeing;' Richardson's Pers. Dict. p. 1272.—Skt. lákshá, lac, the animal dye; put for raktá, lac, formed from rakta, pp. of the verb rañj, to dye, to color, to redden; cf. Skt. ranga, color, paint (Benfey).   [Skt. ksh for kt is regular.]   Doublet, lake (2).   Der. lacqu-er, gum-lac, shel-lac.

LAC (2),  a hundred thousand.  (Hind.,—Skt.)   Imported from India in modern times; we speak of 'a lac of rupees' = 100,000 rupees.—Hind. lak.—Skt. laksha, a mark, aim; also a lac, a hundred thousand; prob. standing for an orig. rakta, pp. of the verb rañj, to dye, color (Benfey).   See Lac (1). [†]

ADDENDA

LAC (2)   The sense of laksha, viz. 100,000, has reference to the number of lac-insects in a nest; H. H. Wilson, Gloss. of Indian Terms, p. 308.   See Lac (1).  Wilson adds that the insect constructs its nest in numerous small cells of a resinous substance known as shell-lac.