Lac
Lac (lak) , noun
[Hind. lak, lākh, lāksh, Sanskrit laksha a mark, sign, lakh.]
One hundred thousand; also, a vaguely great number; as, a lac of rupees. [East Indies]
Also: Lakh
Lac , noun
[Per. lak; akin to Sanskrit lākshā: compare French lague, Italian & New Latin lacca. Compare Lake a color, Lacquer, Litmus.]
A resinous substance produced mainly on the banyan tree, but to some extent on other trees, by the Laccifer lacca (formerly Coccus lacca), a scale-shaped insect, the female of which fixes herself on the bark, and exudes from the margin of her body this resinous substance.
Stick-lac is the substance in its natural state, incrusting small twigs. When broken off, and the coloring matter partly removed, the granular residuum is called seed-lac. When melted, and reduced to a thin crust, it is called shell-lac or shellac. Lac is an important ingredient in sealing wax, dyes, varnishes, and lacquers.
Collocations (4)
Ceylon lac , a resinous exudation of the tree Croton lacciferum, resembling lac.
Lac dye , a scarlet dye obtained from stick-lac.
Lac lake , the coloring matter of lac dye when precipitated from its solutions by alum.
Mexican lac , an exudation of the tree Croton Draco.