pleaded

Pleaded is the past tense and past participle of the verb plead. Plead has two primary senses: to present and argue a case in court on behalf of oneself or another, and to beg or appeal earnestly for something. The word can also function in more general senses of making an appeal or entreaty.

Forms and usage notes:

- Present: plead; present participle: pleading; past tense: pleaded or pled; past participle: pleaded or pled.

- In American English, both pleaded and pled are used for the simple past, but pleaded is often preferred in formal or legal writing, while pled is common in everyday speech. The present perfect often appears as has pleaded or have pleaded.

- In British English, pleaded is more commonly used for the past tense, though pled is also attested in some varieties and contexts.

Common examples:

- The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges.

- The lawyer pleaded for a lighter sentence.

- She pleaded with the committee for more time.

Common confusions:

- Plea is the noun related to the act of pleading, as in a legal plea.

- Pleader or pleading refers to a person or a formal presentation of a case.

- Pleaded versus pledged is a common cross-word confusion; pled is not related to pledge in meaning, though both are past forms of different verbs.

Etymology:

The term originates in Middle English, borrowed from Old French, with the sense of presenting an argument or petition in a formal setting. The pronunciation remains the same regardless of spelling variant in most dialects.