lot

See also: Lot, lọt, łot., and låt

English

Etymology

From Middle English lot, from Old English hlot (“portion, choice, decision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.

Cognate with North Frisian lod, Saterland Frisian Lot, West Frisian lot, Dutch lot, French lot, German Low German Lott, Middle High German luz. Doublet of lotto. Related also to German Los.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lŏt, IPA^(key): /lɒt/
• (General American) enPR: lät, IPA^(key): /lɑt/
• (Boston, Western Pennsylvania) IPA^(key): /lɔt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒt

Noun

lot (plural lots)

Lot, noun definition 5

1. A large quantity or number; a great deal.

   Synonyms: load, mass, pile

   to spend a lot of money

   lots of people think so

   • 1877, William Black, Green Pastures and Piccadilly, volume 2, page 4:

     He wrote to her […] he might be detained in London by a lot of business.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients, page 52:

     I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out.

2. A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively.

   Synonyms: batch, collection, group, set

   a lot of stationery

3. One or more items auctioned or sold as a unit, separate from other items.
5. (informal) A number of people taken collectively.

   Synonyms: crowd, gang, group

   a sorry lot

   a bad lot

   you lot

6. A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field.

   Synonyms: allotment, parcel, plot

   a building lot in a city

   • 1820, James Kent, William Johnson, editor, Reports of cases adjudged in the Court of Chancery of New-York‎^[1], volume 5:

     The defendants leased a house and lot, in the City of New-York

7. That which happens without human design or forethought.

   Synonyms: chance, accident, destiny, fate, fortune

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book), Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 1:

     But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay.

9. Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without human choice or will.

   to cast lots

   to draw lots

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 16:33:

     The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     If we draw lots, he speeds.

10. The part, or fate, that falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without one's planning.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

      O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's / Enough to bear.

    • 1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

      He was but born to try / The lot of man — to suffer and to die.

    • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter II, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III:

      […] as Jones alone was discovered, the poor lad bore not only the whole smart, but the whole blame; both which fell again to his lot on the following occasion.

    • 1977, C-3PO, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope:

      We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.

11. A prize in a lottery.

    Synonym: prize

    • 1694 November 22 (Gregorian calendar)​, John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for November 12 1694]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:

      In the lottery […] Sir R. Haddock one of the Commissrs of the Navy had the greatest lot, £3000 ; my coachman £ 40

12. Allotment; lottery.
    • 1990: Donald Kagan, Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy, chapter 2: “Politician”, page 40 (Guild Publishing; CN 2239)

      Archons served only for one year and, since 487/6, they were chosen by lot. Generals, on the other hand, were chosen by direct election and could be reelected without limit.

13. (definite, the lot) All members of a set; everything.

    The table was loaded with food, but by evening there was nothing but crumbs; we had eaten the lot.

    If I were in charge, I'd fire the lot of them.

14. (historical) An old unit of weight used in many European countries from the Middle Ages, often defined as 1/30 or 1/32 of a (local) pound.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:lot

Derived terms

• across lots
• a fat lot
• a lot
• a lot of bit
• bad lot
• board lot
• car lot
• cast in one's lot with
• cast one's lot with
• cellphone lot
• cell phone lot
• crook in the lot
• cross lots
• distribution lot
• draw lots
• drop lot
• fall to someone's lot
• fat lot of good
• glass parking lot
• have a lot of time for
• home lot
• it takes a lot of living to make a house a home
• job lot
• job lot
• leave a lot to be desired
• lot-cloth split
• lot lizard
• lot number
• odd lot
• parking lot
• round lot
• scot and lot
• tax lot
• thanks a lot
• that's your lot
• throw in one's lot with
• tot lot
• vacant lot
• water lot
• wood lot
• you lot

 

Translations

large quantity or number — see a lot

separate portion; number of things taken collectively

• Bulgarian: група (bg) f (grupa), множество (bg) n (množestvo)
• Finnish: erä (fi)
• French: groupe (fr) m, ensemble (fr) m
• Galician: lote (gl) m
• German: Menge (de) f, Los (de) n, Charge (de) f, Haufen (de) m, Anzahl (de) f
• Italian: gruppo (it) m, insieme (it) m, quantità (it) f
• Portuguese: quantidade (pt)
• Swedish: mängd (sv) c

one or more items auctioned or sold as a unit

• Finnish: erä (fi), huutokauppaerä
• Spanish: lote (es) m

informal: a number of people taken collectively

• Finnish: joukko (fi)
• French: bande (fr) f
• Galician: lote (gl) m, fato (gl) m
• German: Gruppe (de) f, Menge (de) f, Haufen (de) m, Häuflein (de) n, leute
• Portuguese: bando (pt) m
• Russian: гру́ппа (ru) f (grúppa)
• Swedish: bunt (sv) c, skara (sv)

distinct portion or plot of land

• Bulgarian: участък (bg) m (učastǎk)
• Danish: grundstykke n
• Faroese: grundstykki n
• Finnish: tontti (fi)
• French: lot (fr) m, parcelle (fr) f
• German: Parzelle (de) f, Grund (de) m, Grundstück (de) n
• Hebrew: חֶלְקָה‎ f (ḥelqá)
• Hungarian: telek (hu)
• Irish: gabháltas m
• Portuguese: lote (pt)
• Spanish: loteo (es) m
• Swedish: tomt (sv)

that which happens without human design or forethought

• Albanian: rrevë (sq) f
• Bulgarian: участ (bg) f (učast), съдба (bg) f (sǎdba)
• Finnish: kohtalo (fi), osa (fi)
• French: destin (fr) m
• German: Schicksal (de) n, Los (de) n
• Hebrew: גּוֹרָל‎ (he) m (gorál)
• Hungarian: sors (hu)
• Italian: destino (it) m
• Norwegian: skjebne (no)
• Plautdietsch: Schikjsol n
• Polish: przeznaczenie (pl) n
• Russian: у́часть (ru) f (účastʹ), судьба́ (ru) f (sudʹbá)
• Spanish: destino (es)
• Swedish: öde (sv) n, lott (sv) c

anything used in determining a question by chance

• Bulgarian: жребий (bg) m (žrebij)
• Esperanto: loto (eo)
• Finnish: arpa (fi)
• German: Los (de) n
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 m (hlauts)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κλῆρος m (klêros)

• Hebrew: גּוֹרָל‎ (he) m (gorál)
• Latin: sors (la) f
• Malayalam: നറുക്ക് (ml) (naṟukkŭ), കുറി (ml) (kuṟi)
• Polish: los (pl) m
• Russian: жре́бий (ru) m (žrébij)
• Swedish: lott (sv) c

part or fate that befalls one

• Azerbaijani: tale (az), qismət (az)
• Bulgarian: участ (bg) f (učast)
• Faroese: lagna f
• Finnish: osa (fi), kohtalo (fi)
• French: lot (fr) m, sort (fr) m
• German: Los (de) n, Schicksal (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: πότμος m (pótmos)

• Hebrew: גּוֹרָל‎ (he) m (gorál)
• Hungarian: sors (hu)
• Japanese: 宿命 (ja) (shukumei)
• Latin: sors (la) f, pars (la)
• Mongolian: хувь (mn) (xuvʹ)
• Plautdietsch: Schikjsol n
• Swedish: lott (sv) c

prize in a lottery

• Bulgarian: лотарийна награда f (lotarijna nagrada)
• Finnish: voitto (fi), arpajaisvoitto
• French: lot (fr) m
• German: Los (de) n
• Malayalam: സമ്മാനം (ml) (sammānaṃ)

allotment, lottery

• Finnish: arpa (fi)
• Malayalam: നറുക്ക് (ml) (naṟukkŭ), കുറി (ml) (kuṟi)

all members of a set

• Finnish: kaikki (fi)

old unit of weight

• Dutch: lood (nl)
• Finnish: luoti (fi)
• German: Lot (de) n
• Polish: łut (pl) m

Verb

lot (third-person singular simple present lots, present participle lotting, simple past and past participle lotted)

1. (transitive, dated) To allot; to sort; to apportion.
2. (US, informal, dated) To count or reckon (on or upon).

Anagrams

• LTO, OTL, tol, tol'

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *lā(i)ta, and adjective in *-to-, from Proto-Indo-European *lēy- (“to pour”).

Noun

lot m (indefinite plural lot, definite singular loti, definite plural lotët)

1. tear (from the eye)

   Gjak, djersë dhe lot — Blood, sweat and tears

Declension

Declension of lot

	indefinite		definite
	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	lot	lotë	loti	lotët
accusative			lotin
dative	loti	lotëve	lotit	lotëvet
ablative		lotësh

Derived terms

• losh
• loc
• loçkë
• loke

Balinese

Romanization

lot

1. Romanization of ᬮᭀᬢ᭄

Chinese

Alternative forms

• log

Etymology

From English lot.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lot¹, lok¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lot¹, lok¹
    • Yale: lōt, lōk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lot⁷, lok⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: lod¹, log¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɔːt̚⁵/, /lɔːk̚⁵/

Classifier

lot

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Classifier for large quantity of objects or people.

   一lot過／一lot过 [Cantonese]  ―  jat¹ lot¹ gwo³ [Jyutping]  ―  in a large batch

   • 為咗全力催谷最難賣嘅三房，就預留咗成LOT貨俾緻藍天回流客揀。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     为咗全力催谷最难卖嘅三房，就预留咗成LOT货俾致蓝天回流客拣。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2015, 港股策略王, Issue 23, page 36

     wai⁴ zo² cyun⁴ lik⁶ ceoi¹ guk¹ zeoi³ naan⁴ maai⁶ ge³ saam¹ fong^4-2, zau⁶ jyu⁶ lau⁴ zo² seng⁴ lot¹ fo³ bei² zi³ laam⁴ tin¹ wui⁴ lau⁴ haak³ gaan². [Jyutping]

     To encourage the sales of three-roomers, which are the most difficult to sell, [they] reserved an entire batch of products (flats) for customers who returned after [the sales of] Hemera.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch and Old Dutch lot, from Frankish *hlot, from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lot
• Rhymes: -ɔt

Noun

lot n (plural loten, diminutive lootje n)

1. destiny, fate, lot
2. lottery ticket
3. (archaic) lot, allotment (that which has been apportioned to a party)

Related terms

• loten

Descendants

• Negerhollands: loot, lot
• → Caribbean Javanese: lot
• → Indonesian: lot
  • → Balinese: ᬮᭀᬢ᭄ (lot, “lottery”)
• → Papiamentu: lòt, lot

Anagrams

• tol

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French lot, from Old French loz, los, from Frankish *lot, from Proto-Germanic *hlutą. Cognate with English lot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lo/

  • Audio

    (file)

  • Audio (Paris)

    (file)

  • Homophones: lods, los, lots
• (older, now chiefly Belgium) IPA^(key): /lɔ/
  • Homophone: lots

Noun

lot m (plural lots)

1. share (of inheritance)
2. plot (of land)
3. batch (of goods for sale)
4. lot (at auction)
5. prize (in lottery)
6. lot, fate
7. (slang) babe

Derived terms

• gros lot
• lot de consolation
• sortir du lot

Further reading

• “lot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Verb

lot

1. singular imperative of loten

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch lot, from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɔt]
• Hyphenation: lot

Noun

lot (first-person possessive lotku, second-person possessive lotmu, third-person possessive lotnya)

1. lot,
   1. (manufacturing) a separate portion; a number of things taken collectively.
   2. (colloquial) lottery

      Synonyms: lotre, undian

   3. (finance) allotment

Descendants

• → Balinese: ᬮᭀᬢ᭄ (lot, “lottery”)

Further reading

• “lot” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Lombard

Alternative forms

• lòtt (Classical Milanese Orthography)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔt/ (Milanese)

Noun

lot m

1. lotus

Norman

Etymology

From Frankish *lot, from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.

Noun

lot m (plural lots)

1. (Guernsey) lot (at auction)

Northern Kurdish

Noun

lot ?

1. jump

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

lot

1. simple past of la (Etymology 1)
2. simple past of late

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *letъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *lekt-, from Proto-Indo-European *lek- (“jump”). Compare Czech let and Russian лёт, полёт (ljót, poljót).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt
• Syllabification: lot

Noun

lot m inan

1. flight (the act of flying)

   Synonyms: latanie, fruwanie

2. flight (an instance of flying)
3. flight (a trip made by an aircraft)

Declension

Declension of lot

	singular	plural
nominative	lot	loty
genitive	lotu	lotów
dative	lotowi	lotom
accusative	lot	loty
instrumental	lotem	lotami
locative	locie	lotach
vocative	locie	loty

Derived terms

adjectives

• lotniczy
• lotniskowy
• lotny
• nielotny

 

adverbs

• lotniczo
• lotnie

 

nouns

• bezlotek
• lotka
• lotnia
• lotnictwo
• lotniczka
• lotnik
• lotnisko
• lotniskowiec

 

Related terms

nouns

• latawica
• latawiec
• nalot
• odlot
• podlotek
• polatucha
• przelot
• przylot
• ulotka
• wlot
• wylot
• zlot

 

verbs

• dolatywać impf, dolecieć pf
• latać impf, polatać pf
• lecieć impf, polecieć pf
• nadlatywać impf, nadlecieć pf
• nalatywać impf, nalecieć pf
• oblatywać impf, oblecieć pf
• odlatywać impf, odlecieć pf
• podlatywać impf, podlecieć pf
• przelatywać impf, przelecieć pf
• przylatywać impf, przylecieć pf
• rozlatywać impf, rozlecieć pf
• ulatywać impf, ulecieć pf
• wlatywać impf, wlecieć pf
• wylatywać impf, wylecieć pf
• wzlatywać impf, wzlecieć pf
• zalatywać impf, zalecieć pf
• zlatywać impf, zlecieć pf

 

Further reading

• lot in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lot in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French lot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lot/

Noun

lot n (plural loturi)

1. plot (of land)
2. batch (of goods for sale)
3. lot (at auction)
4. national sports team
5. (dated) lottery ticket

Declension

Declension of lot

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) lot	lotul	(niște) loturi	loturile
genitive/dative	(unui) lot	lotului	(unor) loturi	loturilor
vocative	lotule		loturilor

References

• lot in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From the root of loitiméir (“destroyer, botcher”).

Noun

lot m (gen lota, pl lotan)

1. sore, wound
2. sting

Tatar

Noun

lot

1. A unit of weight: 1 lot = 3 mısqal = 12.797 g (archaic) [2]

Declension

    declension of lot

Nominative	lot
Genitive	lotnıñ
Dative	lotqa
Accusative	lotnı
Locative	lotta
Ablative	lottan

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian hlot, from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.

Noun

lot n (plural lotten, diminutive lotsje)

1. lottery ticket
2. fate, destiny

Further reading

• “lot (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011