Phrase guide

raison d'être

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɹeɪzɒ̃ ˈdɛtɹə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛzɒ̃ ˈdɛtɹə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɹeɪzɒn ˈdɛtɹə/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌɹeɪzɑn ˈdɛtɹə/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A reason for being; the claimed reason for the existence of something or someone; the sole or ultimate purpose of something or someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Surfing became his raison d’être.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French raison d'être (literally “a reason to be/exist”).

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: سَبَب الْوُجُود (sabab al-wujūd) — reason for being
  • Catalan: raó de ser — reason for being
  • Chinese Mandarin: 存在的理由 (cúnzài de lǐyóu) — reason for being
  • Czech: smysl existence — reason for being
  • Czech: příčina bytí — reason for being
  • Czech: raison d'être — reason for being
  • Czech: smysl bytí — reason for being
  • Dutch: raison d'être — reason for being
  • Finnish: olemassaolon syy — reason for being
  • Finnish: syy olla olemassa — reason for being
  • Finnish: tarkoitus — reason for being
  • French: raison d'être — reason for being
  • German: Daseinsberechtigung — reason for being
  • German: Daseinszweck — reason for being
  • German: Existenzberechtigung — reason for being
  • German: Lebensbestimmung — reason for being
  • German: Lebenszweck — reason for being
  • German: Lebensinhalt — reason for being
  • Hungarian: létindok — reason for being
  • Hungarian: létok — reason for being
  • Hungarian: létjogosultság — reason for being
  • Italian: ragione d'essere — reason for being
  • Japanese: 存在理由 (sonzai riyū) — reason for being
  • Japanese: 生き甲斐 (ikigai) — reason for being
  • Korean: 존재이유 (jonjaeiyu) — reason for being
  • Korean: 존재리유 (jonjaeriyu) — reason for being
  • Norwegian Bokmål: eksistensberettigelse — reason for being
  • Persian: علت وجودی ('ellat-e vojudi) — reason for being
  • Polish: racja bytu — reason for being
  • Portuguese: raison d'être — reason for being
  • Portuguese: razão de ser — reason for being
  • Romanian: rațiune de a fi — reason for being
  • Russian: смысл существова́ния (smysl suščestvovánija) — reason for being
  • Sicilian: raciuni di siri — reason for being
  • Slovene: raison d'être — reason for being
  • Spanish: razón de ser — reason for being
  • Swedish: existensberättigande — reason for being
  • Swedish: raison d'être — reason for being
  • Tagalog: balungkaling — reason for being
  • Turkish: varoluş/var olma nedeni/sebebi — reason for being
  • Yiddish: זכות־הקיום (skhus-hakíem) — reason for being