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/pər sˌaʊθˈist/ Listen

noun

A n.

The first letter of the English and of many other alphabets. The capital A of the alphabets of Middle and Western Europe, as also the small letter (a), besides the forms in Italic, black letter, etc., are all descended from the old Latin A, which was borrowed from the Greek Alpha, of the same form; and this was made from the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, the equivalent of the Hebrew Aleph, and itself from the Egyptian origin. The Aleph was a consonant letter, with a guttural breath sound that was not an element of Greek articulation; and the Greeks took it to represent their vowel Alpha with the ä sound, the Phoenician alphabet having no vowel symbols. This letter, in English, is used for several different vowel sounds. The regular long a, as in fate, etc., is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early part of the 17th century, was a sound of the quality of ä (as in far).

(Mus.) The name of the sixth tone in the model major scale (that in C), or the first tone of the minor scale, which is named after it the scale in A minor. The second string of the violin is tuned to the A in the treble staff. A sharp is the name of a musical tone intermediate between A and B. A flat is the name of a tone intermediate between A and G.

A per se, one preeminent; a nonesuch. (Obs.) "O fair Creseide, the flower and A per se Of Troy and Greece."

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Etymology of 'Per se'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Per se" Quotes from Famous Books

... to me to turn out my daughters! Heaven and earth! My daughters!" He was well aware that, though he and his son often differed, he could never so safely keep himself out of trouble as by following his son's advice. But surely this was a matter per se, standing altogether on its own bottom, very different from those ordinary details of life on which he and his son were wont to disagree. His daughters! The Ladies Sophie and Carolina Stowte! It had been suggested to him to turn them out of his house because— Oh! oh! The insult was ...

— The Vicar of Bullhampton • Anthony Trollope

... is supposed to be within the constellation called Sisumara or the Northern Bear. The stars, without changing their places per se, seem to revolve round this point within ...

— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... according to our theory lies at the root of the Grail story, be indeed the ritual of a Life Cult, it should, in and per se, possess precisely these characteristics, will, I think, be admitted by any fair-minded critic; the point of course is, can we definitely prove our theory, i.e., not merely point to striking parallels, but select, from ...

— From Ritual to Romance • Jessie L. Weston

... But it wasn't her old-fogyishness, per se, that irritated; it was the fact that her old-fogyishness had made her "call down" Missy—in front of the minister. Just as if Missy were a child. Fifteen is not a child, to itself. And it can rankle and ...

— Missy • Dana Gatlin

... Italy, Belgium or Norway, or in autocratic Germany or Austria-Hungary, the government is considered as in a sense coming down from above. It is believed, and taught, that government exists by divine right and that it has per se its own position and rightful place of domination. That it exists for itself, and not as a means to an end. But in Great Britain, the United States, and also in the British self-governing colonies, as compared with this, the whole order of things is upside down, so to speak. We believe that all governments ...

— Socialism and American ideals • William Starr Myers

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