raison d'etre

rai·son d'ê·tre

R0028200 (rā′zōn dĕt′rə, rĕ-zôN)n. pl. rai·sons d'être (rā′zōn, rĕ-zôN) Reason or justification for existing.

[French : raison, reason + de, of, for + être, to be.]

(rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə) n, pl raisons d'être (rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə) reason or justification for existence

A French phrase meaning reason for being, used to mean a reason or justification for the existence of something or someone.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	raison d'etre - reason for beingrationalization, rationalisation - the cognitive process of making something seem consistent with or based on reason
	2.	raison d'etre - the purpose that justifies a thing's existencefunction, purpose, use, role - what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?"

Translations