re·cog·ni·zance /ri-'käg-nə-zəns/ n [Anglo-French recognisance reconisance, literally, recognition, from Old French reconoisance, from reconoistre to recognize, from Latin recognoscere]
1: an obligation entered into on the record before a court or magistrate requiring the performance of an act (as the paying of a debt) usu. under penalty of a money forfeiture; also: the sum liable to forfeiture
2: a simple personal obligation or undertaking (as to appear in court) entered into before a magistrate and having no money penalty attached
released on his own recognizance
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.