1.  That which happens without human design or forethought; chance; accident; hazard; fortune; fate. [1913 Webster]
"But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay." [1913 Webster]

2.  Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without man's choice or will; as, to cast or draw lots. [1913 Webster]
"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." [1913 Webster]
"If we draw lots, he speeds." [1913 Webster]

3.  The part, or fate, which falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without his planning. [1913 Webster]
"O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's
Enough to bear." [1913 Webster]
"He was but born to try
The lot of man -- to suffer and to die." [1913 Webster]

4.  A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively; all objects sold in a single purchase transaction; as, a lot of stationery; -- colloquially, sometimes of people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot. [1913 Webster]
"I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English heads, chiefly of the reign of James I." [1913 Webster]

5.  A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field; as, a building lot in a city. [1913 Webster]
"The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of New York." [1913 Webster]

6.  A large quantity or number; a great deal; as, to spend a lot of money; to waste a lot of time on line; lots of people think so. [1913 Webster]
"He wrote to her . . . he might be detained in London by a lot of business." [1913 Webster]

7.  A prize in a lottery. Evelyn. [1913 Webster]

   To allot; to sort; to portion. [1913 Webster]

lot, n. & v.
--n.
1 colloq. (prec. by a or in pl.) a a large number or amount (a lot of people; lots of chocolate). b colloq. much (a lot warmer; smiles a lot; is lots better).
2 a each of a set of objects used in making a chance selection. b this method of deciding (chosen by lot).
3 a share, or the responsibility resulting from it.
4 a person's destiny, fortune, or condition.
5 esp. US a plot; an allotment of land (parking lot).
6 an article or set of articles for sale at an auction etc.
7 a number or quantity of associated persons or things.
--v.tr. (lotted, lotting) divide into lots.

Idiom:
bad lot a person of bad character. cast (or draw) lots decide by means of lots. throw in one's lot with decide to share the fortunes of. the (or the whole) lot the whole number or quantity. a whole lot colloq. very much (is a whole lot better).

Etymology:
OE hlot portion, choice f. Gmc

N  chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.

N  state, condition, category, estate, lot, ease, trim, mood, pickle, plight, temper, aspect, dilemma, pass, predicament, constitution, habitude, diathesis, frame, fabric, stamp, set, fit, mold, mould, mode, modality, schesis, form, tone, tenor, turn, trim, guise, fashion, light, complexion, style, character, conditional, modal, formal, structural, organic, conditionally, as the matter stands, as things are, such being the case.

N  quantity, magnitude, size, amplitude, magnitude, mass, amount, sum, quantum, measure, substance, strength, force, mathematics, mathesis, category, general conception, universal predicament, armful, handful, mouthful, spoonful, capful, stock, batch, lot, dose, yaffle, quantitative, some, any, aught, more or less, a few, to the tune of, all of, a full, the sum of, fully, exactly, precisely.

N  assemblage, collection, collocation, colligation, compilation, levy, gathering, ingathering, muster, attroupement, team, concourse, conflux, congregation, contesseration, convergence, meeting, levee, reunion, drawing room, at home, conversazione, assembly, congress, convention, conventicle, gemote, conclave, posse, posse comitatus, Noah's ark, miscellany, collectanea, museum, menagerie, museology, crowd, throng, group, flood, rush, deluge, rabble, mob, press, crush, cohue, horde, body, tribe, crew, gang, knot, squad, band, party, swarm, shoal, school, covey, flock, herd, drove, atajo, bunch, drive, force, mulada, remuda, roundup, array, bevy, galaxy, corps, company, troop, troupe, task force, army, regiment, host, populousness, clan, brotherhood, fraternity, sorority, association, volley, shower, storm, cloud, group, cluster, Pleiades, clump, pencil, set, batch, lot, pack, budget, assortment, bunch, parcel, packet, package, bundle, fascine, fasces, bale, seron, seroon, fagot, wisp, truss, tuft, shock, rick, fardel, stack, sheaf, haycock, fascicle, fascicule, fasciculus, gavel, hattock, stook, accumulation, congeries, heap, lump, pile, rouleau, tissue, mass, pyramid, bing, drift, snowball, snowdrift, acervation, cumulation, glomeration, agglomeration, conglobation, conglomeration, conglomerate, coacervate, coacervation, coagmentation, aggregation, concentration, congestion, omnium gaterum, spicilegium, black hole of Calcutta, quantity, collector, gatherer, whip, whipper in, assembled, closely packed, dense, serried, crowded to suffocation, teeming, swarming, populous, as thick as hops, all of a heap, fasciculated cumulative, the plot thickens, acervatim, tibi seris tibi metis.

N  apportionment, allotment, consignment, assignment, appointment, appropriation, dispensation, distribution, division, deal, repartition, partition, administration, dividend, portion, contingent, share, allotment, fair share, allocation, lot, measure, dose, dole, meed, pittance, quantum, ration, ratio, proportion, quota, modicum, mess, allowance, suerte, apportioning, respective, respectively, each to each.

a lot, bad lot, job lot, parking lot, scot and lot, sorry lot, used-car lot, vacant lot, whole lot