lottery

Where does the word "lottery" come from? It comes from Italian/Germanic lotto, passing through Italian before entering English (1500s-1600s).

Lottery’s story begins in Italian/Germanic: lotto meant “a lot, share.” Meaning "a lot" or "portion", of Germanic origin. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in Italian as lotteria. Named a game of chance for distributing prizes by lot. It reached English by 1500s-1600s as lottery. Queen Elizabeth I held England's first state lottery in 1569. Today, lottery means a game of chance in which winners are selected by random drawing.

1. Stage 1 · Italian/Germanic · medieval lotto "a lot, share", meaning "a lot" or "portion", of Germanic origin.
2. Stage 2 · Italian · 1500s lotteria "a drawing of lots for prizes", named a game of chance for distributing prizes by lot.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1500s-1600s lottery "a game in which prizes are won by chance", Queen Elizabeth I held England's first state lottery in 1569.