Lot v.

Also 5 lote, 6 lott(e, Sc. loitt. [f. LOT sb. Cf. F. lotir to cast lots, assign by lot.]

  I.  intr.

  1.  To cast lots. Const. interrog. clause; also with for. rare.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 65/1. Wherfore now stande euerich in his tribe and we shal lote who shal be our kyng.

[1600.  Heywood, 1st Pt. Edw. IV., III. i. Wks. 1874, I. 46. King. Well, let’s cast lots whether thou shalt go with me [etc.]. Hobs. Lot me no lotting. I’ll not go with thee.]

1642.  R. Harris, Serm., 43. Let’s put it to the Lot. Lot upon your selves; and let each Parliament man say, Am I ready?

c. 1657.  W. Bradford, Plymouth Plant. (1856), 216. A cowe [was given] to 6. persons or shars, & 2. goats to y^e same, which were first equalised for age & goodnes, and then lotted for.

1795.  J. Sullivan, Hist. Maine, 188. The house lots were all lotted for, except such as were allowed to be pitched by the old proprietors.

  2.  Sc. To pay a ‘lot’ or assessment. Only in connection with SCOT v., q.v.

  3.  To lot upon, to count or reckon upon; rest one’s hopes on; depend or rely on; look for, hope for, expect. Now U.S.

[1633.  D. Rogers, Treat. Sacraments, I. 165. Doe ye know the way unto him by the Supper…? Doe ye lot upon it, that there (if any where) … the broken peace of your consciences … is to be revived?] Ibid. (1642), Naaman, 565. Its a maxime: lot upon it, whether thou see it so or not, it will be so.

1658.  Gurnall, Chr. in Arm., II. ver. 16. xix. 656. The soul that was even now pining to death with despair, and lotting upon hell in his thought. Ibid. (1662), III. ver. 18. II. xix. § 2. 642. As the Saints are covetous of prayers, so they lot upon it that you do pray for them.

1868.  Mrs. Whitney, P. Strong, ii. (1869), 27. I can’t help lotting on it all the time.

1894.  M. E. Wilkins, in Brit. Weekly, 16 Aug., 258. All these six weeks … had Emma Jane lotted upon it.

  II.  trans.

  4.  To assign to one as his share or portion; to assign as one’s lot or destiny. Also with out; and in indirect passive.

1524.  Wolsey, Lett. to Hen. VIII., in Strype, Eccl. Mem., I. iv. 53. Your archers shall be lotted and appointed … to every part.

1562.  Eden, Lett. to Sir W. Cecil. xx^li thereof to be lotted to me for an earnest penye to begynne the booke.

1594.  Carew, Huarte’s Exam. Wits, xiii. (1596), 219. He who first deuised Chesse-play … lotted as many cheefe men to the one side as to the other.

1596.  Drayton, Legends, iii. 286. So well had Fortune lotted out my hap.

1606.  Warner, Alb. Eng., XV. xcix. 391. Though she lack not of the age that Scriptures lot to man.

1611.  Heywood, Gold. Age, II. i. Wks. 1874, III. 29. She Must be her bed-companion, so tis lotted.

1648.  Symmons, Vind. Chas. I., 291. They being by the Providence of God lotted under his government.

1823.  Byron, Age of Bronze, vi. A live estate, existing but for thrall, Lotted by thousands, as a meet reward For the first courtier in the Czar’s regard.

1832.  Fraser’s Mag., V. 684. Was more e’er lotted to the vulgar swarm?

1898.  T. Hardy, Wessex Poems, 71. Fifty thousand sturdy souls … Who … were lotted their shares in a quarrel not theirs.

  † b.  To appoint or allot to do or to be (something): = ALLOT v. 4. Obs.

1573.  Twyne, Æneid., XII. (1584), S viij. And I alonly lotted am King Turnus to assay.

1637.  B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., II. i. Your brother Lorells prize! For so my largesse, Hath lotted her, to be your brothers Mistresse.

  † 5.  To impose a tax, due or impost upon. Obs.

1543–4.  Act 35 Hen. VIII., c. 11 § 4. Two Iustices of peace shall haue ful power … indifferently to lot and tax euery citie boroughe and towne within the shire.

  6.  To divide (land) into lots, esp. for assignment to private owners. Usually with out: To portion out and allot (to a person or persons).

c. 1449.  [see LOTTING vbl. sb.].

1561.  Norton & Sackv., Gorboduc, I. ii. 151. As for diuiding of this realme in twaine, And lotting out the same in egall partes To either of my lordes your Graces sonnes.

1622.  Peacham, Compl. Gentl., ix. (1634), 73. Every man had his owne portion of ground lotted and laid out to him.

1634.  Rec. Muddy River & Brookline, Mass. (1875), 9. That Hogg Island shall be lotted out unto the inhabitants and freemen of this town.

1647.  Mass. Col. Rec. (1853), II. 195. Waymoth haveing a swamp, supposed to be above 100 acres, they are granted liberty to lot it out amongst themselues.

1736.  in E. Hyde, Hist. Winchendon, Mass. (1849), 75. The Committee to lot and lay out the first division.

1805.  Forsyth, Beauties Scotl. (1808), V. 202. A village is lotted out, and to each lot of building ground is appropriated a small croft.

1823.  Byron, Juan, X. xxxv. Lotting others’ properties Into some sixty thousand new knights’ fees.

1836.  A. A. Parker, Trip to the West, 167. A few years ago a town was lotted out in this place.

1879.  Lubbock, Addr. Pol. & Educ., ix. 156. A considerable part of the site was … lotted out in sites for cottages.

1891.  E. Chase, Dartmouth Coll., I. 611. The remainder of the grant … was lotted, and some of it rented on long leases about 1821.

  7.  To divide or group into lots for sale. Also with out.

1709.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4595/4. They are lotted into small Parcels.

1821.  Byron, Juan, IV. xci. Lady to lady, well as man to man, Were to be chain’d and lotted out per couple, For the slave-market of Constantinople.

1837.  Advt., in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), III. 120. The Stone Wall … and the Coping … surmounted by Nine Balls … will be sold in one Lot; excepting the Balls, which will be lotted in Pairs.

1861.  Temple Bar, I. 145. The furniture was lotted out for the auctioneer’s hammer.

1880.  Advt., in Echo, 23 Nov., 4/2. A Stock of about 300 dozen choice Wines, lotted to suit the Trade and Private Buyers.

1893.  H. Vizetelly, Glances Back, II. xxvii. 110. The auctioneer’s man who lotted the goods.

  8.  To cast lots for; to divide, apportion or distribute by lot. Now rare.

1703.  S. Sewall, Diary, 22 March. Mr. Banister and I Lotted our Fence on Cotton-Hill:… He chose to put it to Lot. Ibid. (1723), 2 March. The Children’s Plate and Linen is divided into Six parts, and then Lotted.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xiii. (1848), 124. Men who have … bought up truth for the nations; parted it, As soldiers lotted once the garb of God.

  9.  To choose (pressed men) by lot for service. Obs. exc. Hist.

1758.  J. Blake, Plan Mar. Syst., 5. The other captain … is … to send the officers under him on board merchant ships, in order to lot the men.

1893.  J. H. Turner, Hist. Brighouse, 254. John Marsden who was lotted or pressed for a soldier in Wellington’s time.

  10.  To portion off by lot.

1849.  Grote, Greece, II. xlvi. V. 496. The newly-created panels of salaried dikasts, lotted off in ten divisions from the aggregate Heliæa.