Lottery is the act or an instance of drawing lots; a competition, especially as a means of raising money for the state or a charity, in which tickets are sold and prizes are awarded by a process that depends wholly on chance. The word may also refer to a game of chance in which players try to predict an event or outcome.

The term is most often used to describe a state or national lottery, but it can refer to other types of lotteries, too. These include charitable, non-profit and church lotteries. In a private lottery, people buy tickets and hope to win a prize—often money or goods.

A person who plays the lottery is said to have a lottery habit. It is important to remember that while buying tickets is a form of gambling, winning the lottery is not always a good investment. People who regularly purchase tickets are depriving themselves of opportunities to save for retirement, college tuition, or other needs. This type of irrational spending can be very dangerous.

The earliest known lotteries date back to the Old Testament, where Moses instructed his followers to divide land by lottery. Later, Roman emperors gave away property and slaves by lottery. In the 18th century, George Washington’s Mountain Road Lottery and Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Lottery helped fund the American Revolution. In the United States, lotteries are regulated by state law and organized by licensed promoters. The prize amounts are determined by the amount of money collected from ticket sales.