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

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

That the “The Napa Boys” won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — or in this case, goblet of wine — almost feels like this meta comedy’s raison d’être.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025

As there was no new ground to explore, and as the eating of lunch seemed to be the raison d’être of the excursion, it was plainly foolish to start until the luncheon hour approached.

From Lady Cassandra by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey