Etymology

lottery

lot·te·ry
L1O1T1T1E1R1Y4

Today it means: A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the other tickets are blanks. Full definition →

Italian lotteria
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The story

  1. Italian · borrowed fromlotteria
  2. English todaylottery

Borrowed from Italian lotteria, from the same root as Old English hlot (cognate with English lot). Compare French loterie (from Middle Dutch loterie). By surface analysis, lot + -ery.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.