A technical dictionary of printmaking, André Béguin.
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lake
Pigment originally made from lac. Paints and inks are sometimes made using a colour fixed with an amorphous substance such as chalk, starch, or alumina. This mixture is then used as a pigment. Lakes are therefore a kind of colour that can be solidified. However, lakes are not always very hard finished nor are they very opaque. On the other hand they can create some very special tones. Lakes can be used as a kind of glazing or they can be mixed with another colour to reinforce or nuance it. White lake, which is not a real colour ink such as covering white, is usually used to lighten other colours.
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