# per se

idiom · CEFR C1

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/per-se
Updated: 2026-08-03

## Meaning

In itself — used to separate a thing from what happens to surround it.

## Examples

- I don't dislike it per se, I just wouldn't choose it.
- The rule doesn't ban the practice per se; it bans doing it without disclosure.
- Saying the arrangement was not corrupt per se conceded rather more than the spokesman intended, since nobody had suggested it was corrupt in the abstract.

## Origin

Per se means through itself, and it is a piece of Roman philosophical vocabulary. Latin writers translating Greek philosophy needed a way to mark the difference between what belongs to a thing in its own right and what merely happens to be attached to it — per se as against per accidens — and the pair became standard equipment in scholastic argument. Law took it up as well, and kept it precise. Negligence per se means conduct that counts as negligent by itself, without a jury having to weigh whether it was reasonable, because it broke a statute designed to prevent exactly that harm. Everyday English uses it as a hedge, and usually in the negative: not illegal per se, not a lie per se. The phrase concedes that the surrounding circumstances are doing something, while declining to say what.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.