A lottery is a game in which numbers or symbols are drawn for a prize. The first lotteries to offer tickets for sale were likely held in the Low Countries during the 15th century to raise funds for town fortifications and charity. They were also intended to avoid the high taxes imposed on wealthy people at the time.

Modern lotteries often employ computer systems to record bettors’ identities and amounts staked. They also use machines to shuffle the numbers or symbols that bettors have selected, so that each participant has an equal chance of selecting a winning combination. In the past, lotteries may have used human sleuths to verify that each bettor had purchased a ticket.

Although lottery games can provide a fun and entertaining pastime, purchasing them can become an expensive habit. For example, many low-income people play the lottery and spend money that they could put toward their retirement or college tuition. This can also lead to compulsive gambling problems. The cost of lottery tickets can easily add up to thousands of dollars in foregone savings.

The word “lottery” is believed to be derived from the Dutch words for fate (“fate”) and draw (“lot”). The English version of the term, however, is thought to be an adaptation of the Middle French word loterie (from Old French lortie), which was in turn a calque of the Latin word locus. In the United States, state governments took control of lottery games in the 1970s. Since then, they have introduced new games to maintain or grow revenues.