nolo contendere

American  

[noh-loh kuhn-ten-duh-ree] / ˈnoʊ loʊ kənˈtɛn də ri /

Informal, nolo

noun

Law.

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

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nolo contendere British  

/ ˈnəʊləʊ kɒnˈtɛndərɪ /

noun

1. law 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

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nolo contendere Cultural  

1. 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.”

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Etymology

Origin of nolo contendere

First recorded in 1830–35; from Latin: “I am unwilling to contend”; nolle prosequi ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does nolo-contendere compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• nolo contendere vs. guilty

Example Sentences

In 1977, Helms pleaded nolo contendere to misdemeanor charges of failing to testify “fully, completely, and accurately” before a Senate committee.

From Slate • Nov. 30, 2018

Others found his plea of essentially nolo contendere to be tantamount to an admission of doping.

From Chicago Tribune • Aug. 24, 2012

Another ad wove in a litany of Latin phrases, such as, “Don Beyer is the nolo contendere dealer.”

From Washington Post

All told, fewer than 800 were ever convicted, most because they pleaded guilty or nolo contendere.

From Time Magazine Archive

For there are not a few on this continent of ours, whom the Avvocata del Diavolo would certainly expect to enter a nolo contendere, who stand in much need of a healthy animalism.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 27, January, 1860 by Various