per se

/pษ™หหˆseษช/

IPA: /P ER1 S EY1/

adjective
  1. 1

    Positing itself and being a principle of its own determination.

adverb
  1. 1

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

    โ€œSome people say that a hangover is caused by impurities in the drink, not by the alcohol per se.โ€

  2. 2

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

    โ€œIt's not a museum per se, but they do have some interesting artefacts.โ€

  3. 3

    Being a thing that posits itself and is a principle of its own determination.

  4. 4

    Not leaving discretion to the judge to take into account additional factors that could rebut the judgment, deriving the qualification from the statute.

    โ€œThe law makes drunk driving illegal per seโ€

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/per%20se