[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. |
| no·lo con·ten·de·re (nō'lō kən-těn'də-rē) n. A plea made by the defendant in a criminal action that is substantially but not technically an admission of guilt and subjects the defendant to punishment but permits denial of the alleged facts in other proceedings. [Latin nōlō contendere, I do not wish to contend : nōlō, first person sing. present tense of nōlle, to be unwilling + contendere, to contend.] |
| Main Entry: | nolo contendere |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | in law, a plea by the defendant in a criminal prosecution of not contending a conviction as though a guilty plea had been entered but not admitting guilt; also called nolo |
| Etymology: | L. lit. I do not wish to contend |
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.”