plea vs counterplea

plea and counterplea both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
plea	Yes	No	No	No
counterplea	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, counterplea is a hyponym of plea; that is, counterplea is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than plea:

plea: (law) a defendant's answer by a factual matter (as distinguished from a demurrer)
counterplea: a plaintiff's reply to a defendant's plea

Other hyponyms of plea include dilatory plea, insanity plea, plea of insanity.

plea (noun)	counterplea (noun)
an answer indicating why a suit should be dismissed	a plaintiff's reply to a defendant's plea
a humble request for help from someone in authority
(law) a defendant's answer by a factual matter (as distinguished from a demurrer)