raison d'être

American  

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

noun

plural

raisons d'être

1. reason or justification for being or existence.

   Art is the artist's raison d'être.

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raison d'être British  

/ rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə /

noun

1. reason or justification for existence

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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.”

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Etymology

Origin of raison d'être

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70

Example Sentences

Couple the above with ExpressVPN’s pretty stringent privacy policy, you begin to understand that ExpressVPN is more of an “old school” VPN provider, for which security and privacy are a VPN’s raison d’être.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2026

But, for smaller companies whose AI offerings are their raison d’être, there are pros and cons of the new era.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

The problem isn’t the production but the musical’s shifting raison d’être.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025

Fundamentally, the format's raison d'être is now under question.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2025

I have endeavored to show, in the first place, that the doctrine of focus and margin involves the raison d'être of psychology.

From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.