plea
noun
[ pliː ]
• a request made in an urgent and emotional manner.
• "he made a dramatic plea for disarmament"
Similar:
appeal,
entreaty,
supplication,
petition,
prayer,
request,
call,
solicitation,
invocation,
suit,
imploration,
adjuration,
• 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.
• "he changed his plea to not guilty"
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘lawsuit’): from Old French plait, plaid ‘agreement, discussion’, from Latin placitum ‘a decree’, neuter past participle of placere ‘to please’.
