Per-se meaning

pər sā, sē

Of, in, or by itself or oneself; intrinsically.

adverb

By (or in) itself; intrinsically.

adverb

Per se is defined as by itself.

An example of per se is "It's not the attitude by itself that bothered me."

adverb

By or through itself. Standing alone; on its own merits; without need for reference to outside facts. The opposite of per quod.

adverb

The law makes drunk driving illegal per se.

adverb

(chiefly in negative polarity environments) As such; as one would expect from the name.

Well, that's not correct per se, but the situation is something like that.

adverb

(law) As a matter of law.

adverb

Origin of per-se

Latin per sē per per sē itself

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Latin per se (“by itself"), from per (“by, through") and se (“itself, himself, herself, themselves").

From Wiktionary