Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Lottery

Lottery , noun

[Lot + -ery, as in brewery, bindery.]

1.
A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance; esp., a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, and the rest of the tickets are blanks.
An affair of chance. [Figurative]

The laws of the United States and of most of the States make private lotteries illegal, except in certain circumstances for charitable institutions; however, many of the states now conduct lotteries tehmselves as a revenue source.

2.
Allotment; thing allotted. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare