per se

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /pəːˈseɪ/
• (GA) IPA: /pɚːˈseɪ/

Adverb

per se (not comparable)

1. In and of itself; by itself; without determination by or involvement of extraneous factors.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:intrinsically

   Some people say that a hangover is caused by impurities in the drink, not by the alcohol per se.

2. (chiefly in negative polarity environments) In a true or literal sense; as one would expect from the name.

   It's not a museum per se, but they do have some interesting artefacts.

   • ante 1998 anonymous conversationalists, quoted in, 1998, Tom Chiarella, Writing Dialogue, Story Press, ISBN 9781884910326, page 12:

     I take photographs. But I'm not a photographer.

     Per se.

     Right. Not per se.

     Right.

3. (philosophy) Being a thing that posits itself and is a principle of its own determination.
4. (legal) Not leaving discretion to the judge to take into account additional factors that could rebut the judgment, deriving the qualification from the statute.

   The law makes drunk driving illegal per se

Synonyms

• ipso facto, in and of itself, as such (certain senses)

Translations

• French: en soi, per se, en tant que tel
• German: per se, an sich, als solches
• Italian: di per se
• Portuguese: em si, per se
• Russian: сам по себе́
• Spanish: per se

Translations

• German: entsprechen, bezeichnungsgemäß, als solches

Adjective

per se (not comparable)

1. (philosophy) Positing itself and being a principle of its own determination.

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