LAKH

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 20 June 2012

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Word of the Day:

LAKH  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) one hundred thousand (100000)
2. (n.) a great number

Useful info for word game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: HAlakhA/S, HAlakhIC, HAlakhAH/S, HAlakhOT/H, HAlakhIST/S
• Other Spellings: LAC
• Related Forms: (none)

Current theme:

Numbers

Epilogue:

Indian English has some distinctive words for large numbers, and their notation system reflects these terms.  A LAKH (or rarely, LAC) is one hundred thousand, usually written there as 1,00,000.  The different placement of the comma makes sense in this system, because they see it as one lakh, not one hundred thousand.  Similarly, ten lakh (written as 10,00,000) is what we in the United States would call one million.  One hundred lakhs, or what we would call ten million, is called a CRORE and is written as 1,00,00,000.  Both LAKH and CRORE derive from Hindi versions of Sanskrit words for the same concepts.

Idiosyncratic notation aside, LAKH and CRORE are handy little words to have around, much shorter and simpler than the alternatives “one hundred thousand” and “ten million.”  Perhaps someday they will be adopted and used more widely in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

Now that you know about LAKH and CRORE and that the word MILLION is rarely used in India, you can impress your friends with this fun fact: when the movie Slumdog Millionaire was released in India, it was titled Slumdog Crorepati. A crorepati is one with a crore (ten million) or more RUPEES — roughly the equivalent of a millionaire in terms of status and purchasing power.

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