plea

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
plea/pliː/

▶noun

• 1 a request made in an urgent and emotional manner.

• 2 Law a formal statement by or on behalf of a defendant or prisoner, stating guilt or innocence in response to a charge, offering an allegation of fact, or claiming that a point of law should apply.

  ■ an excuse or claim of mitigating circumstances.

– phrases
plea of tender Law a plea that the defendant has always been ready to satisfy the plaintiff's claim and now brings the sum into court.

– origin ME: from OFr. plait, plaid ‘agreement, discussion’, from L. placitum ‘a decree’, neut. past part. of placere ‘to please’.