The lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a state or national lottery and regulating its operations.
The term is probably derived from the Dutch word loterij, but it may also be a calque on Middle French loterie. It is a type of competition in which prizes are allocated by a process that relies entirely on chance, although it may include several stages of the arrangement and require participants to contribute to the overall competitive effort.
Lotteries have a long history. Benjamin Franklin used one to raise funds for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution. The first state lottery was established in Virginia in 1612, and by the early 17th century, there were lotteries in most of the English colonies.
Most lotteries are run as a business with a primary goal of increasing revenues. As a result, advertising necessarily focuses on persuading target groups to spend their money on the lottery. Critics argue that this promotion of gambling undermines the legitimate public purposes of state government.
Some states earmark lottery proceeds for specific purposes, such as education. However, critics charge that this practice is deceptive, since the earmarked revenue simply reduces the amount of general-purpose appropriations that the legislature would otherwise have to allocate from its own funds. The result is that the overall level of funding for the targeted program is the same or even less than before.