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

So they feel like it is their signature, their raison d’etre.

From Slate

"The raison d'etre was very simple," Knighton says now.

From BBC

“When the Democrats regained control of the House in 2018, they should have consolidated their position by working with then-President Trump and the GOP Senate to accomplish something positive for the American people. Instead, they decided that their raison d’etre was the destruction of the Bad Orange Man. Now that they are barely clinging to thin majorities in Congress and encumbered by a deeply dysfunctional White House, Trump is coming after them,” Mr. Catron later concludes.

From Washington Times

When Ferrari resigned last year, the Scientific Council accused him of having neglected his duties as president in order to attend to his commercial interests in the United States, and of misunderstanding the “raison d’être” of ERC, allegations he denied.

From Science Magazine

The question for Germany now, the paper said, “is how do we teach those for whom a hatred of Israel is in their DNA that Israel’s security is part of their adopted homeland’s raison d’être?”

From New York Times