A form of gambling in which tickets are sold and winners are determined by chance. Prizes are often cash or goods. Occasionally, the winning ticket holders are given valuable assets such as land or slaves. Lotteries are legalized in many countries to raise money for public and private projects. In colonial America, lotteries played a significant role in financing roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, and bridges. Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to raise funds to buy cannons for Philadelphia’s defense.
Historically, lotteries were often abused by people who used them to acquire luxury items that they could not afford otherwise. These abuses have strengthened the arguments of those who oppose them. In addition, there are numerous examples of individuals and families who find that winning a lottery leads to serious declines in their quality of life.
The word lottery is derived from the Latin for “agreement, choice,” or “lot” (as in “fate”). The first recorded lotteries were in the Low Countries in the 15th century, but there are indications that they go back even further. The English word is a calque on Middle Dutch loterie, and it is cognate with Old English hlot and German Lotto.
A lottery is also a scheme for allocating prizes in a game or an activity whose outcome depends on luck or chance: The way the judges are assigned to cases is always a bit of a lottery. Lottery can also refer to the process of assigning coveted positions in a company or in an organization: The state uses a lottery to allocate spaces at its campgrounds.