lot

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lɒt/ (UK); /lɑːt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lot,^[2][3] inherited from Old English hlot (“an object used to decide someone's share; what falls to a person by lot”),^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *hlutą,^[4][5] related to the strong verb hlēotan (“to cast lots, obtain by lot”).^[4][7][8] Its cognates include Old Frisian hlot, Old Saxon hlōt, Dutch lot, Old High German hlōz (modern German Los), Old Norse hlutr (“lot, share”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (hlauts).^[5][4][7] Etymonline calls the whole group of unknown origin;^[4] Barnhart and Klein connect it with a root meaning “hook, key; to close”, seen in Ancient Greek κλαΐς (klāḯs, “bar, key”) and perhaps Latin claudere (“to close”).^{[4][9][10][11]} The Germanic word was borrowed into the Romance languages, as French lot and Italian lotto, from which English has lotto and lottery.^[4][12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

An object used in deciding something by chance (Old English, in the compound huonhlotum “in little portions” before 800, and as hlot in 971).^[9][14]

Semantic evolution

In Old English hlot was often a chip of wood marked with a name; the lots were shaken in a container such as a helmet, and the one that fell out first won, hence to cast lots;^[4][12] in other cases they were drawn by hand, hence to draw lots.^[4] The sense “the choice resulting from casting lots” is from about 1200, and “one's share or portion in life, one's fate” from about 1300.^[4][14] To cast in one's lot with, from the Bible (Proverbs 1:14), originally referred to sharing plunder.^[12][14] “A number of persons or things of the same kind” dates from the 1570s,^[4][7] and a bad lot of a person from the 19th century.^[15][12] The sense “a plot of land” is first recorded in the 1630s in American English,^[4][9] from land originally assigned by lot;^[16][12] Bartlett noted in 1848 that the use was peculiar to the United States.^[17] An item or set of items sold at auction dates from the early 18th century,^[7][16] and the informal sense “a great many, a good deal”, especially a lot of and lots of, from about 1811.^[9][16][18]

Timeline

• before 800 – Old English huonhlotum, in little portions.^[9]
• 971 – hlot, an object used to decide by chance.^[14]
• c. 1200 – the choice made by lot.^[4][14]
• c. 1300 – one's portion in life, fate.^[4]
• 1530s – to cast one's lot with.^[4]
• 1570s – a number of persons or things of the same kind.^[4]
• 1633 – a plot of land (North America).^[5][16]
• 1710 – a set of things; a quantity.^[16]
• 1791 – the lot, the whole number.^[16]
• 1811 – lots of, a great quantity.^[16][9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An object such as a straw or slip of paper drawn or cast to decide something by chance; the use of such objects: chosen by lot.
2. One's portion in life; fate or fortune.
3. A piece of land with fixed boundaries: a parking lot.
4. An item or set of items sold together, especially at auction.
5. (informal) A group of people or things: an angry lot.
6. (informal) Kind or type: a bad lot.
7. A motion-picture studio and its grounds.

Pronoun

1. (informal) A lot or lots, a large number or amount: a lot of people.

Adverb

1. (informal) A lot or lots, a great deal; much: feels a lot better.

Verb

1. To divide (land) into lots; to allot.

Word family

• lotter
• lottery
• feedlot
• interlot
• sandlot
• sublot
• job lot
• odd lot

Related words

• allot
• lotto

Usage notes

Random House lists part and quota as synonyms of the sense “share”, plot and parcel of the sense “piece of land”, and group, crowd and gang of the sense “a number of people”.^[19]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
9. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d e Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
14. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
15. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ a b c d e f g Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
17. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
18. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
19. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House