Lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers or symbols are drawn at random to determine winners, who are given prizes that can range from small items to large sums of money. Prizes are normally taxable and most of the proceeds go to institutions, primarily public school systems. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it and organize state or national lotteries.

Historically, the lottery has provided the means to finance a wide variety of private and public ventures, including roads, canals, churches, colleges, and even armies. In the American colonies, lotteries were a common source of money for public projects in the 1740s through the 1780s, and in particular financed the foundation of Columbia University and Princeton University.

In modern times, the lottery is a multibillion-dollar industry that attracts many participants, and is regulated by government authorities to ensure fairness and legality. But the question of whether it is a form of gambling has become a subject of intense debate, with criticisms focusing on its promotion of gambling and the possibility of negative effects on the poor and problem gamblers.

Lottery, from Middle Dutch loterij “action of drawing lots,” is derived from the Latin term castellanus, meaning the casting of lots; the casting of lots as a decision-making process has an extensive history (see below). The modern use of the word, in which tickets are sold and a prize determined by chance, dates only from the 18th century.