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

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.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of raison d'être¹

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From New York Times