nolo contendere

[ noh-loh kuhn-ten-duh-ree ]

/ ˈnoʊ loʊ kənˈtɛn də ri /

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noun Law.

(in a criminal case) a defendant's pleading that does not admit guilt but subjects him or her to punishment as though a guilty plea had been entered, the determination of guilt remaining open in other proceedings.

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Also Informal, no·lo

[noh-loh] /ˈnoʊ loʊ/ .

Origin of nolo contendere

First recorded in 1830–35; from Latin: “I am unwilling to contend”; see also nolle prosequi

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH nolo contendere

acquitted, innocent, nolo contendere

Words nearby nolo contendere

Nolichucky, noli me tangere, Nollekens, nolle prosequi, no-load, nolo contendere, no longer, no-lose, no love lost, nol-pros, Noludar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use nolo contendere in a sentence

This is the rigor of Wolff's defense of his work: nolo contendere, and the accuser is a temporary resident of a prison.
Bring It On, Michael Wolff!|Conrad Black|January 5, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Ensenada met the nomination with a becoming nolo episcopari, professing that he was incapable of filling the four posts at once.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6|Various
Emori nolo, sed me esse mortuum nihil curo; I would not die, but care not to be dead.
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (Volume 1 of 3)|Thomas Browne
He smiled, and said, "No more than an ecclesiastic hath to the miter, when he cries Nolo episcopari."
From This World to the Next|Henry Fielding

Nolo enim aliquem Christianum tam crudeliter pro me tractari, & continuo sublatum est quartarium.
Henry the Sixth|John Blacman
Sed nolo fidem meam interponere, nam si venerit, modo valeat mea authoritas, vivum exire non patiar.
Letters of John Calvin, Volume II (of 4)|Jules Bonnet

British Dictionary definitions for nolo contendere

nolo contendere

/ (ˈnəʊləʊ kɒnˈtɛndərɪ) /

noun

law, mainly US a plea made by a defendant to a criminal charge having the same effect in those proceedings as a plea of guilty but not precluding him from denying the charge in a subsequent action

Word Origin for nolo contendere

Latin: I do not wish to contend

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for nolo contendere

nolo contendere

[ (noh-loh kuhn-ten-duh-ree, kuhn-ten-duh-ray) ]

A plea that can be entered in a criminal or civil case, by which an accused person neither admits guilt nor proclaims innocence of a charge. Nolo contendere is Latin for “I do not wish to contend.”