per se (sometimes misspelled "per say" or "persay") is: A Latin phrase used in English arguments for "by itself" or "by themselves" Latin borrowing meaning "in and of itself", used in certain fairly specific, idiomatic contexts in casual English. For him virtuosity per se is not so important as the quality and clarity of sound. Is typically used with a negative to indicate that a term being used is understood to be imprecise or off-the-mark (i.e., not accurate 'per se') in a case where the term is nevertheless useful to an explanation. The most common use is in sentences like, "Does being a secretary here per se mean that I have to take phone messages?" I parked my car at the curb per your request. Among meanings for preposition per, wiktionary.org includes . per se: [adverb] by, of, or in itself or oneself or themselves : as such : intrinsically. per se definition: 1. by or of itself: 2. by or of itself: 3. by or of itself: . Taking Wiktionary as a guide, one can use either form with little difference in meaning, but I think some people will object to such use of per and others to such use of as per. Examples of Per se in a sentence “I have completed the report per se,” the employee showed his own report told his boss, “and had to stay up all night to complete it.” Even though their son is not the only student struggling in math class per se… It's proper usage would be something like, "I don't hate all ugly people per se, but I hate when ugly people sit next to me on airplanes.". This means there are more of them, and they’re getting more aggressive. To address this linguistic nuance, this post particularly focuses on comma-related guidelines as well as the usage of “per se” in sentences. Latin borrowing meaning "in and of itself", used in certain fairly specific, idiomatic contexts in casual English. Learn more. or "Smoking does not per se mean that you will get lung cancer, but it is a contributing factor." Do we need a comma before “per se”? "Per se" means "inherently", "inevitably", "intrinsically". The open source model is not, per se, a guarantee of stability, because it does not … Plus, as per is redundant. “Per se” is an anaphorical Latin phrase that roughly means “by itself” which is used in emphasizing attributes without directly using reflexive pronouns. Definition of Per se. It defines as per as a preposition meaning "Consistent, or in accordance, with.". The phrase per se is a Latin term that means “in and of itself.” In a legal context, per se is commonly used to single out a single element of a larger issue.Per se is not an issue or topic, but serves to make sure listeners understand what the speaker is trying to pull out of the big picture, or that he is referring to the inherent nature of something. Per se in Latin has the meaning "through him/her/itself", in the sense of "through his/her/its own efforts. Not that I object to the use per se, but that there is a carelessness that borders on disregard for the actual content. Per, without as, conveys the same meaning.And in some cases, as on its own would work just as well as as per, especially with the common phrase as per usual—for example: As per usual, Richard Blais once again collected all 3 first place votes, with Angelo swapping places with Tiffani to round out the top three. Per se translates as “by itself.” For example, we all know it’s election season, and with a little over a month to go until November 6, the political ads are heating up, especially here in Colorado, since we’re a pretty significant swing state. by itself or as such. in accordance with [e.g.] If someone kills the enemy "per se", she has done so without any outside help.