लाक्षा

See also: लक्षं, लक्ष, and लक्ष्

Sanskrit

Uncertain. Suggestions have included:

Derived from *लक्ष (lakṣa), *रक्ष (rakṣa, “red; redness”) (related to Proto-Iranian *raxšah (“dark-colored”)), from रज् (raj, “to become red”)^[1]^[2]
From Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”), related to Latvian lasis, Middle Low German las (“salmon”), Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), etc.^[3]
From लक्ष (lakṣa, “one hundred thousand”), referring to the insects gathered to create the resin^[4]

लाक्षा • (lākṣā) stem, f

(botany) a species of plant
a kind of red dye, lac (obtained from the cochineal or a similar insect as well as from the resin of a particular tree)
the insect or animal which produces the red dye

Feminine ā-stem declension of लाक्षा
Nom. sg.	लाक्षा (lākṣā)
Gen. sg.	लाक्षायाः (lākṣāyāḥ)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	लाक्षा (lākṣā)	लाक्षे (lākṣe)	लाक्षाः (lākṣāḥ)
Vocative	लाक्षे (lākṣe)	लाक्षे (lākṣe)	लाक्षाः (lākṣāḥ)
Accusative	लाक्षाम् (lākṣām)	लाक्षे (lākṣe)	लाक्षाः (lākṣāḥ)
Instrumental	लाक्षया (lākṣayā)	लाक्षाभ्याम् (lākṣābhyām)	लाक्षाभिः (lākṣābhiḥ)
Dative	लाक्षायै (lākṣāyai)	लाक्षाभ्याम् (lākṣābhyām)	लाक्षाभ्यः (lākṣābhyaḥ)
Ablative	लाक्षायाः (lākṣāyāḥ)	लाक्षाभ्याम् (lākṣābhyām)	लाक्षाभ्यः (lākṣābhyaḥ)
Genitive	लाक्षायाः (lākṣāyāḥ)	लाक्षयोः (lākṣayoḥ)	लाक्षाणाम् (lākṣāṇām)
Locative	लाक्षायाम् (lākṣāyām)	लाक्षयोः (lākṣayoḥ)	लाक्षासु (lākṣāsu)

Monier Williams (1899) “लाक्षा”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0899.

^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 477
^ “lac”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed., Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, H.W. Wilson Co., 1988.
^ Klein, Dr. Ernest, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., 1971.