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lotto

a game of chance in which players match randomly drawn numbers

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Where does the word "lotto" come from? It comes from Italian lotto, and was adopted directly into English (1700s-1800s).

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Where does the word "lotto" come from? It comes from Italian lotto, and was adopted directly into English (1700s-1800s).

Lotto’s story begins in Italian: lotto meant “a lot, share.” Meaning "a lot" or "portion", of Germanic origin. It reached English by 1700s-1800s as lotto. Italian 'lot, portion'; the Genoese lotto of the 1500s drew numbers for council seats. Today, lotto means a game of chance in which players match randomly drawn numbers.

  1. Stage 1 · Italian · medieval lotto "a lot, share", meaning "a lot" or "portion", of Germanic origin.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1700s-1800s lotto "a game of chance with numbered cards", Italian 'lot, portion'; the Genoese lotto of the 1500s drew numbers for council seats.

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