English

Adverb

per se ‎(not comparable)

1. necessarily
2. In and of itself; by itself; without consideration of extraneous factors.

   The law makes drunk driving illegal per se.

3. (chiefly in negative polarity environments) As such; as one would expect from the name.

   Well, that's not correct per se, but the situation is something like that.

4. (law) As a matter of law.

Usage notes

• Because this is originally a Latin phrase, it is sometimes italicized when it is written.

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:per se.

Translations

Anagrams

• esper
• peers, Peers
• spree

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛrˈseː/

Etymology

From Latin per se ‎(“by itself”), from per ‎(“by, through”) and se ‎(“itself, himself, herself, themselves”).

Alternative forms

• (obsolete since spelling reform of 1995) persé

Adverb

per se

1. necessarily, absolutely, without fail
2. (rare) per se

Usage notes

The ‘necessity’ meaning is the usual one; the original Latin meaning as in English is rarely used and can be misunderstood.

Anagrams

• prees
• speer

Latin

Adverb

per sē

1. per se
2. by itself
3. through itself

Portuguese

Adverb

per se (not comparable)

1. per se (without considering extraneous factors)