Lottery is a scheme for raising money by selling chances to share in the distribution of prizes determined by chance. The numbered slips, called “tickets” or “lots,” which are purchased for the privilege, are drawn at random on a specific day. Traditionally, prize money is a fixed percentage of the total amount paid in tickets. Modern lottery rules allow purchasers to select the numbers on their tickets, increasing the number of potential winners.

Lotteries have long been popular with public officials and the general public. They have been used to finance a variety of private and public projects, from canals to universities. During the Revolutionary War, lotteries helped to raise funds for the Continental Army. Alexander Hamilton wrote, “The lottery is generally considered a secret tax, although the people of America have always been willing to hazard trifling sums for a considerable gain.”

Unlike traditional sin taxes on vices such as alcohol or tobacco, the proceeds from a lottery are usually returned to the community in the form of public services. Some authorities argue that replacing sin taxes with lottery revenue is a more socially responsible approach, since gambling has less of an addictive impact on society than other vices.

The term lottery is derived from the Dutch word for “drawing of lots,” which itself may be a calque of Middle French loterie, or perhaps a loan from Italian lotteria. In any event, the earliest European state-sponsored lotteries in the modern sense of the word appear in 15th-century Burgundy and Flanders, where towns hoped to raise money to fortify defenses or help the poor.