Lottery is a game in which numbers are drawn at random and prizes are awarded to the winners. It is often sponsored by a government or organization as a means of raising funds. Modern state-sponsored lotteries are primarily commercial, but there are many privately run games as well. The term derives from the Italian lotteria (literally “drawing lots”), from Middle Dutch loterie and French loterie, a calque on Middle English lotinge (“action of drawing lots”).

In colonial America, private and public lotteries were an important source of capital for construction projects, including roads, canals, churches, schools, hospitals, and even the founding of some American colleges—including Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, King’s College, and William and Mary. They also aided the early development of America’s banking and taxation systems. Several American leaders, including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, held private lotteries to alleviate debt and poverty.

Supporters of state-sponsored lotteries argue that they are a way for states to raise money without the cost and regressiveness of taxes. Critics, however, say that lotteries promote addictive gambling behavior, encourage illegal gambling, and distort the true cost of government services—while largely benefiting wealthy and politically connected people. Moreover, studies have found that those who play state-sponsored lotteries disproportionately come from middle-income neighborhoods, while those who do not play them proportionally live in lower-income neighborhoods.