lottery
lot·te·ry/ˈlɑtɚi/noun
lottery is spelled L-O-T-T-E-R-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables (lot·te·ry). It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lottery 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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lottery is lotteries.
How many letters and syllables are in lottery?
| Letters | 7: L-O-T-T-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: lot·te·ry |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lottery?
Lottery appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lottery?
- UK /ˈlɒtəɹi/
- UK /ˈlɒtɹi/
- US /ˈlɑtɚi/
Lottery has 3 syllables, split lot·te·ry in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Berrely-lottery.wav, En-us-lottery.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lottery?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lottery from its last stressed vowel (/ɑtəɹi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lottery
- lotteries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lottery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
Dave plays the lottery almost every week, but always picks different numbers.
- 2
Something decided by chance.
It's a bit of a lottery whether we'll get a good table in that diner.
- 3
obsoleteAllotment; a thing allotted.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lottery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lottery come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).