An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Los
Los, Loos, n., ‘lot, fate, chance,’ from MidHG. and OHG. lôȥ, m. and n., ‘lot, casting lots, drawing a lot, disposal by lottery, division of an inheritance’; comp. Goth. hlauts, ‘lot, inheritance,’ OIc. hlaut (hlutr), ‘lot, portion, sacrifice,’ AS. hlŷt and hlot, E. lot. To these are allied the str. vbs. — OIc. hljóta, AS. hleótan, OSax. hliotan, OHG. lioȥan, MidHG. lieȥen, ‘to obtain by lot, acquire.’ This verbal stem in heathen times was probably a sacrificial term (comp. MidHG. lieȥen, ‘to predict,’ OIc. hlaut, ‘sacrifice’; also Tacitus, Germania, 10). Old derivatives of this root hlut, which is peculiar to Teut., passed also into Rom.; comp. Ital. lotto, ‘lottery urn,’ Fr. lot, ‘share,’ OFr. lotir, ‘to cast lots, predict,’ Fr. loterie, ‘lottery.’