mid-15c., of persons; 1540s, of actions or objects, "likely to bring luck;" from luck + -y(2). Meaning "occurring by chance" is 1590s. Related: Luckier; luckiest; luckiness. Lucky break is attested from 1884 in billiards; 1872 as "failure or break-down which turns out to be fortunate." Lucky Strike as the name of a brand of cigarettes (originally chewing tobacco) popular mid-20c. is said to date from 1871; popular from 1935 when the brand’s maker picked up sponsorship of “Your Hit Parade” on radio.