A competition in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes awarded to those whose numbers are drawn at random. Often sponsored by states as a way of raising money. Also, any event whose outcome seems to depend on chance: “Life is a lottery.”
Some examples of lotteries are kindergarten placements at a reputable school or unit allocations in a subsidized housing block. But the most familiar lotteries are those that dish out cash prizes to paying participants, such as those that occur in sport or those that determine who gets a vaccine for a fast-moving virus.
The word is derived from Middle Dutch loterie, and may be related to Old English hlot (cognate with the verb “to draw”). The lottery’s popularity in the immediate post-World War II period gave states a way to expand their array of services without especially onerous taxes on working people, who could afford the tickets. But that arrangement began to crumble in the 1960s, when inflation outpaced tax revenue, and by the 1980s state governments were having trouble financing even basic social safety net programs.
Many states now run lotteries, which raise billions of dollars a year. Most of this money goes to state coffers, but some is used to pay for prizes like automobiles and vacations. The word’s programmatically compiled examples illustrate current usage, and federal statutes prohibit sending lottery promotions through the mail or offering them via telephone. Some people play the lottery purely for fun, and some believe it’s their last or only hope of a better life. But the odds of winning are long, and a lottery is gambling.