GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions

1.       
    Lac (lăk), ‖Lakh (läk) , n. [Hind. lak, lākh, lāksh, Skr. laksha a mark, sign, lakh.] One hundred thousand; also, a vaguely great number; as, “a lac of rupees”. [Written also lack.] [East Indies]
   
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2.       
   Lac, n. [Per. lak; akin to Skr. lākshā: cf. F. lague, It. & NL. lacca.  Cf. 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.
   
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   ☞ 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.
   
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   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.
   
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