noun
(1) Players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed by casting lots
(2) Something that is regarded as a chance event
"The election was just a lottery to them"
Etymology
from
lotteria, from the same root as hlot (cognate with
lot)
Noun
- A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the other tickets are blanks.
- An affair of chance.
- Allotment; a thing allotted.