Cognovit

noun

1. In <em>law</em>, an acknowledgment or confession by a defendant that the plaintiff's cause, or a part of it, is just, wherefore the defendant, to save expense, suffers judgment to be entered without trial. More fully written <em>cognovit actionem.</em>
2. An instrument in writing whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's demand to be just.
3. An <xref>instrument</xref> in writing whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's <xref>demand</xref> to be <xref>just</xref>.