per se

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin per sē (“by itself”), from per (“by, through”) and sē (“itself, himself, herself, themselves”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pəˈseɪ/ (General American) IPA(key): /pɚˈseɪ/, /pɚˈsiː/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /pəˈsæɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ, (General American) -iː === Adverb === per se (not comparable) Without determination by or involvement of extraneous factors; by its very nature. Synonyms: by itself, in itself, in and of itself, as such (in certain senses), sui generis (occasionally, in one of its senses) Near-synonyms: by definition, by nature, essentially, in essence, ipso facto, intrinsically; see also Thesaurus:intrinsically (nonstandard, more loosely, chiefly in the negative) In a true or literal sense; as one would expect from the name or description. Synonyms: exactly, strictly speaking, sensu stricto, stricto sensu, truly a. 1998, anonymous conversationalists, quoted in, 1998, Tom Chiarella, Writing Dialogue, Story Press, →ISBN, page 12: I take photographs. But I'm not a photographer. Per se. Right. Not per se. Right. (philosophy) As the principle of its own determination and positing itself. (law) Not leaving discretion to the judge to take into account additional factors that could rebut the judgment, deriving the qualification from the statute. Coordinate terms: eo ipso, ipso facto ==== Usage notes ==== Because this is originally a Latin phrase, it is sometimes italicized when it is written. Increasingly misspelled by English speakers as per say or persay. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === per se (not comparable) (philosophy) Positing itself and being a principle of its own determination. (law) That does not leave discretion to the judge to take into account additional factors that could rebut the judgment, deriving the qualification from the statute. === References === “per se”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “per se”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === Anagrams === peers, Reeps, spere, esper, Prees, Peres, pères, speer, Spree, spree, Esper, Peers, Serpe, prees == Danish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Latin per sē. === Adverb === per se per se Coordinate terms: i sig selv, som sådan === Further reading === “per se” in Den Danske Ordbog == Dutch == === Alternative forms === persé (obsolete since spelling reform of 1995) === Etymology === From Latin per sē (“by itself”), from per (“by, through”) and sē (“itself, himself, herself, themselves”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /pɛrˈseː/ === Adverb === per se necessarily, absolutely, without fail (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 == === Etymology === First attested in the 11th century. By surface analysis, per (“by, through”) +‎ sē (“itself, himself, herself, themselves”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈpɛr ˈseː] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈpɛr ˈsɛː] === Adverb === per sē (not comparable) (Medieval Latin) by itself; separately; alone ==== Descendants ==== ==== References ==== "Per se", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) == Polish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Latin per sē. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈpɛr ˈsɛ/ Syllabification: per se === Preposition === per se (literary) per se (by itself) === Further reading === “per se”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN “per se”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish) == Portuguese == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Latin per sē. === Pronunciation === === Adverb === pér sé (not comparable) per se (without considering extraneous factors) === Further reading === “per se”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “per se”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Latin per sē. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˌpeɾ ˈse/ [ˌpeɾ ˈse] Syllabification: per se === Adverb === per se per se === Further reading === “per se”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “per se”, in Diccionario del español actual (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA per se | Diccionario de la lengua española (2001) | RAE - ASALE