nolo contendere
[noh-loh kuh n-ten-duh-ree]
- (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.
Show More
Also nolo.
Origin of nolo contendere
1870–75; < Latin: I am unwilling to contend
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
nolo contendere
- 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
Show More
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
Word Origin and History for nolo contendere
Latin, literally "I do not wish to contend." A plea that admits no guilt but subjects the defendant to judgment.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.”
Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.