Lottery is a game in which numbers or symbols are drawn randomly and a prize, such as money, goods, or services, is awarded. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including filling vacancies in sporting teams among equally competing players, placing people in schools or universities and even determining the winners of elections. It is also a common way to settle disputes among family members. Its popularity is partly due to the ease of implementation and the speed at which results are available.

It is a popular pastime in many countries, and the earliest lotteries are found in the Low Countries in the 15th century. These were primarily to raise funds for walls and town fortifications, though records in Ghent, Bruges, and Utrecht suggest that they may have been in use earlier. The word “lottery” is thought to have been derived from Middle Dutch loterie, which itself comes from the Latin verb lotio, meaning “to draw lots,” perhaps a calque of Middle French loterie, which itself probably derives from the Greek noun (“lots”), which means fate or fortune.

While lottery critics complain that it is a form of taxation on the stupid—and it is hard to dispute that lottery sales correlate with economic fluctuations, as Cohen observes, and that they are heavily promoted in poor and Black neighborhoods—it is important to remember that lottery money goes into state coffers and is thereby a form of revenue. It also helps finance such services as education, elder care, and public parks.