A lottery is a contest based on chance in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to the holders of numbers drawn at random. Lotteries are popular with state governments and are used to raise money for a variety of purposes, including education and public works.

The word lottery comes from the Latin lotto, meaning “fate.” People have been using lottery-like methods to determine their fate for centuries. One of the oldest known lotteries is a game called keno, which dates back to 205–187 BC. In keno, individuals who make up a subset of a larger group have the same probability of being selected, creating a balanced representation of that group.

Modern lotteries are similar to keno, but they also involve buying tickets in order to be selected for a prize. In the United States, state legislatures and the general public must approve a lottery before it can be operated. Although critics argue that a lottery is not an effective way to raise revenue, it has become an important source of income for many state governments.

In the 17th century, American colonists began introducing lotteries to raise funds for a variety of projects, including paving streets and building wharves. Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to buy cannons for the city of Philadelphia, but his attempt was unsuccessful. Lotteries remained popular in the United States throughout the 18th century and into the 19th.

Today, lotteries continue to be a popular form of gambling, with Americans spending $80 billion on them every year. While there are many reasons to oppose the legalization of lotteries, the most important argument is that they disproportionately benefit wealthy individuals and corporations while hurting low-income families.