raison d'être

American  

[rey-zohn de-truh, re-zawn de-tr^uh] / ˈreɪ zoʊn ˈdɛ trə, rɛ zɔ̃ ˈdɛ trə /

noun

• raisons d'être
  plural

1. reason or justification for being or existence.

   Art is the artist's raison d'être.

---

raison d'être British  

/ rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə /

noun

1. reason or justification for existence

---

raison d'être Cultural  

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.”

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• raisons d'être
  plural

Etymology

Origin of raison d'être

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

raison d'être

The raison d’être for all things art-related happening here in late February.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026

It is also working to build the type of cutting-edge AI agents that some investors think threaten its entire raison d’être.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

BeReal’s appeal ended the second the app started pushing users to friend randos and post more than once a day, defeating its entire raison d’être.

From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2025

Not far away, at Pepa Bar a Vins, irreverence was the raison d’être.

From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2025

Cricket-matches are often the raison d'être of a garden-party, rendering it popular with both ladies and gentlemen.

From Manners and Rules of Good Society or Solecisms to be Avoided by Anonymous