recognizance

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An obligation, entered into before a judge or magistrate, to perform a particular action, such as appearing in court, without the posting of a bond.
• noun A sum of money pledged to assure the performance of such an action.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of recognizing; acknowledgment of a person or thing; avowal; recognition.
• noun Mark or badge of recognition; token.
• noun In law:
• noun An obligation of record entered into before some court of record or magistrate duly authorized, conditioned to do some particular act, as to appear at court, to keep the peace, or pay a debt.
• noun The verdict of a jury impaneled upon assize.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun An obligation of record entered into before some court of record or magistrate duly authorized, with condition to do some particular act, as to appear at the same or some other court, to keep the peace, or pay a debt. A recognizance differs from a bond, being witnessed by the record only, and not by the party's seal.
• noun The verdict of a jury impaneled upon assize.
• noun A token; a symbol; a pledge; a badge.
• noun Acknowledgment of a person or thing; avowal; profession; recognition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law a form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that he/she will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set by the court.
• noun A token; a symbol; a pledge.
• noun acknowledgment of a person or thing; avowal; profession; recognition

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun (law) a security entered into before a court with a condition to perform some act required by law; on failure to perform that act a sum is forfeited