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.

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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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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

But she’s also the kind of television personality who is comfortable before the camera without being in love with it, or giving the impression that media success is her raison d’être.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 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

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

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025

All of these plays are fanciful—symbolic if you like—but all of them have a very distinct raison d'être in themselves, quite apart from any ulterior meaning.

From More Portmanteau Plays by Stuart Walker