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View synonyms for raison d'être

raison d'être

[ rey-zohn de-truh; French re-zawn de-truh ]

noun

, plural rai·sons d'ê·tre [rey, -zohnz , de, -tr, uh, r, e-zaw, n, , de, -t, r, uh].
  1. reason or justification for being or existence:

    Art is the artist's raison d'être.



raison d'être

/ rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə /

noun

  1. reason or justification for existence
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

raison d'être

  1. A basic, essential purpose; a reason to exist: “Professor Naylor argues that in the nuclear age, infantry forces have lost their raison d'être.” From French, meaning “reason for being.”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of raison d'être1

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70
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Example Sentences

To underscore the Ballers’ raison d’etre — a baseball team that never would abandon Oakland — Freedman and Carmel sold ownership stakes to fans.

At the time, Beard was convinced that the agency’s raison d’être had to change.

From Slate

The Trump-Vance culture wars, as advanced by Republicans in Congress, are but a ruse, a public relations beard to disguise the GOP’s true raison d'etre: the protection of wealth.

From Salon

My whole raison d’être was to build the bridge between one of the oldest cultures, India, with the youngest, America.

An animated, animal-centric children’s movie tends to require a narrative structure of action-packed adventure — the antithesis of Garfield the cat’s raison d’être.

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