Raffle

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹæfl̩/

Definitions

1. A method of selecting winners for prizes from tickets sold to participants in a contest with an element of chance involved
2. An occasion where individuals buy tickets to potentially receive rewards, selected randomly from the entries
3. A system in which participants purchase tickets for the chance to win various prizes, with winners chosen at random from the total entries submitted

Etymology: The modern sense of "raffle" as a prize draw grew out of a dice game. In Old French, "rafle" named a game of chance played with dice, and it also meant plundering, which hints at the grasping nature of the original pastime. The verb behind it, "rafler", meant to snatch, seize or carry off, and it came from a Frankish word meaning to snatch or pluck out, a sense that survives in the German "raffen", to snatch away. The word reached Middle English as "rafle", and its Dutch cousin "raffel" also named a dice game. Along the way the idea of quick, greedy grabbing gave way to the familiar pattern of many people staking small sums for a chance at one prize. The game of chance stayed, but the snatching shrank to the single winner walking off with the goods.

Synonyms: drawing, lottery