Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RAISON D'ETRE

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pronounce RAISON D'ETRE: Say it "ray ZON DET ruh." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: Oooh... raison d'etre. It's French. It's glamorous. It's wearing a jaunty apostrophe. I love it. Let's file it away in our memory along with these... 1. Literally a "play of spirit," a jeu d'esprit is a witty _____. 2. Literally "after us, the flood," après nous le déluge means "After we're gone, _____." 3. Literally "spirit of the staircase," an esprit de l'escalier is a witty _____ that you think of too late, as if you've left the conversation and you're already going up or down the stairs. Could you fill in the blanks to complete all those definitions? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)     definition: "Raison d'etre" is French for "reason of being." It's been around in English since about 1864. It's a formal, dramatic way to label the reason that something (or someone) exists. In other words, your raison d'etre is what you live for. It might be your goal in life, your favorite activity in life, or the person you live for. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Noun, the countable kind: "That's her raison d'etre." "The group seems to have shifted away from its original raison d'etre." "Sport's raison d'etre – the division of participants into winners and losers (The Guardian)." Other forms:  None. If you prefer, you can maintain from the French that little mark over the first e: "raison d'être." how to use it: "Raison d'etre" is rare, but it's pretty easy to tell what it means. It helps you bring extra drama and emphasis to your sentence, compared to similar words and phrases like "purpose," "rationale," "reason for being," or "reason for existing." Because it's a fancy, foreign phrase, it calls for caution and good judgment before you plop it into everyday conversation. When you do, you might talk about a person's raison d'etre ("His raison d'etre is playing the piano"), a group's raison d'etre ("Their raison d'etre is eliminating food deserts in poor neighborhoods") or a thing's raison d'etre ("Let's discuss the raison d'etre for this trip"). examples: "His raison d'etre is still a good party, and he can indisputably throw one."    — Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 July 2011 "Teaching undergraduates is little more than a tax on the research mission that is the true raison d'etre for our prestigious cathedrals of higher education."    — Robert Pondiscio, US News, 27 March 2015 has this page helped you understand "raison d'etre"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "raison d'etre" without saying "rationale" or "thing that you eat, sleep, and breathe." try it out: The BBC quoted a professor of paleontology: "In my opinion the raison d'etre of our museums is the preservation of our national heritage." As opposed to, you know, educating people; or bolstering a city's cultural scene; or fostering in children a sense of wonder, curiosity, or a love of science or art. Talk about whether you agree or disagree with that professor. In your view, what is the raison d'etre of museums? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Defining by Rhyming! Check out the given term, and try to complete the definition by supplying a missing rhyming word. For example, if I give you "bevy = _ _ _ _ herd," then you give me "bird," because a bevy is a bird herd. To peek at the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! afterclap = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ grenade review this word: 1. A near-opposite of RAISON D'ETRE could be A. REASON FOR QUITTING. B. REASON FOR CELEBRATING. C. REASON FOR BECOMING WEALTHY. 2. As Mary Elizabeth Williams slammed a sappy commercial, she noted, "Tiffany's, of course, is a company whose raison d'etre is _____." A. selling diamonds B. the traditional symbol of love C. a list of 'Tiffany's Tips' for 'When Love Gets Serious' that runs from obvious to antiquated Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. A Answer to the game question: afterclap = delayed grenade   a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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