lac
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (1)
- resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects; used in e.g. varnishes and sealing wax
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Lac \Lac\ (l[a^]k), Lakh \Lakh\ (l[aum]k), n. [Hind. lak, l[=a]kh, l[=a]ksh, Skr. laksha a mark, sign, lakh.] One hundred thousand; also, a vaguely great number; as, a lac of rupees. [Written also lack.] [East Indies] [1913 Webster]
Lac \Lac\, n. [Per. lak; akin to Skr. l[=a]ksh[=a]: 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. [1913 Webster]
Note: 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. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]