c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) 1595 (MED) For þough men pleede and poursuye and in þaire playntz falle And newe þaym aftre nonsuyte [read nonsuytes] nynetene hunthred, Withoute grovnde or guilte but forto gete a bribe, Yit shal þay haue no harme þough þay hurle euer.

1488 Rolls of Parl. VI. 417/2 The said discontinuance, or any Nonsuyt of or in the said Atteint.

a1500 (?c1378) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 410 (MED) But ech prest may liȝtly þus sue crist ȝif he lette not hym silf, & þus synne excusiþ hym not þat he synne not in þis noun suyt.

1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. x. f. 26 Menalippus ouer came hym in lawe, and the noble men, whiche wer the frendes of Phalaris, would giue no sentence, & brought the same to a Nonesuite.

1606–7 Act 4 Jas. I c. 3 (title) An Act to give Costes to the Defendant uppon a Nonsuite of the Plaintiffe.

1632 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 128 The Kinges Bench afterwardes discharged the costes upon the nonsuit.

1679 T. D'Urfey Squire Oldsapp v. 65 The Intrigue had been setled, fixt, ratified and confirm'd, to order or declare a nonsuit as to matter of moment.

1741 Act 14 Geo. II c. 17 §1 That all Judgments given by virtue of this Act shall be of the like Force and Effect as Judgments upon Nonsuit.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xx. 296 A nonsuit, or non prosequitur, is entered; and he is said to be nonpross'd.

1803 S. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 50/1 A proof of non-residence might be made to operate as a nonsuit in an action for tithes.

1817 S. T. Coleridge Zapolya iii. i. 84 What not a word in answer? A clear nonsuit!

1883 Law Rep.: Queen's Bench Div. 11 591 Watkin Williams, J., was of opinion that the words above mentioned were privileged..and directed a nonsuit.

1909 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 3 1018 The contention of the plaintiff in this respect was denied by the trial court, which granted a judgment of nonsuit.

1958 Econ. Hist. Rev. 10 384 In case of a non-suit the Companies had to pay the costs.

1980 All Eng. Law Rep. 3 73 The following day the action in the Texas state court was terminated by the filing of a nonsuit.

2002 Legal Intelligencer (Nexis) 14 Jan. Defendants failed to raise the issue at trial by requesting either a nonsuit or a directed verdict.

1459 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 51 We award, ordeyne and deme that the said Will, his seruantes, and his tenauntz..shall be nonsute, or ellus discontynue all maner accions personell and appell that they haue.

1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII c. 2 §4 The same partie so nonsuite or so discontynueng the said Atteynt.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. 175 They will rather retire for shame, and proue to be nonsuite, then confesse themselues faulty.

1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxxi. 138 Better at first be Non-sute, than at length not to subdue.

1594 W. West Symbolæogr.: 2nd Pt. §43 When one hath bin nonsuit he may begin againe.

1660 Scutum Regale: Royal Buckler 58 The King in a manner is everywhere... And therefore it is that he cannot be non-sute.

1720 London Gaz. No. 5868/5 The Officers become Non-suit.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 376 If the plaintiff does not appear, no verdict can be given, but the plaintiff is said to be nonsuit, non sequitur clamorem suum.

1817 W. Selwyn Abridgem. Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 857 In case the plaintiff become nonsuit, or discontinue his action.

1679 ‘T. Ticklefoot’ Some Observ. Tryals Wakeman 8 The Plot is Non-suit, Semel insanivimus omnes.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 99 Least..he [sc. a lover] should turne Crauen..or else bee vtterly non-suited.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. i. 15 But he..Euades them, with a bumbast circumstance..Non-suits [1623 Non-suites] my mediators. View more context for this quotation

a1652 R. Brome Weeding of Covent-Garden ii. i. 27 in Five New Playes (1659) [A tailor says:] I can do no lesse then take you by default and non-suit you.

1723 B. Mandeville Fable Bees (ed. 2) i. 317 Your sly Sinners that..hope that it will expiate their Guilt, and Satan be Nonsuited by it at a small Expence.

a1811 R. Cumberland tr. Aristophanes Clouds (1812) 42 A fig for powers of spouting! give me powers Of nonsuiting my creditors.

1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 51 Fuzzy seized two or three gatter bags, and was about letting them loose among the members; but he was nonsuited, and lost the bags.

1937 Mind 46 352 We cannot nonsuit all of them en masse by the positivist criterion without begging the whole question.