Cognovit

noun

1. In law, 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 cognovit actionem.
2. An instrument in writing whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's demand to be just.
3. An instrument in writing whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's demand to be just.