Lottery is a type of gambling where participants pay for a chance to win a prize, such as cash or goods. It has been used for a variety of purposes, including military conscription and commercial promotions where property is given away through random selection procedures, as well as public policy choices such as distributing units in subsidized housing blocks or placing kindergarten placements at reputable schools.

The first recorded lottery games in Europe involved drawing numbers for prizes, which were typically luxury items like dinnerware and embroidered cloths, during Saturnalian feasts in ancient Rome. Later, Roman emperors used them to distribute land and slaves among their nobles, and they were popular at dinner parties in the 17th century, when hostesses would distribute tickets to guests and draw for prizes toward the end of the night.

Modern state-run lotteries primarily involve paying out large prizes to those who correctly select the most winning combinations of numbers. A small percentage of the total ticket sales is set aside as a prize pool, and the value of each prize is determined by subtracting expenses—profits for the promoter and costs of promotion—from that total.

The earliest publicly-sold lottery tickets were printed in the Low Countries in the 15th century, but the term “lottery” is believed to have been coined in the 17th century from Dutch loterie, a diminutive of the Middle Dutch word lotinge. The Dutch Staatsloterij, still in operation today, is the oldest continuously running lottery.