释义 |
‖ raison d'être|rɛzɔ̃ dɛtr| [Fr.] ‘Reason of being’; rational ground for existence.
1864J. S. Mill Let. 18 Mar. (1910) II. 3 Modes of speech which have a real raison d'être. 1867Morley Burke 208 Plunder in three forms..was the very raison d'être of the power of the [East India] Company. 1880Standard 29 Nov., The Royal Society has almost ceased to have a raison d'être. 1889A. James Diary 14 Dec. (1964) 67 The French ladies of the 18th century..whose whole raison d'être was the graceful, and the light. 1927C. Connolly Let. 5 May in Romantic Friendship (1975) 301 With Desmond gone I have no raison d'être. 1959J. Braine Vodi vii. 102 There were a few trees and fields, and even a small colony of expensive privately-built houses, which was rare for a place for which the raison d'être now was Rimelby Main [colliery]. 1975J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles v. 104 A possible raison d'être for these sites was the chert, a desirable raw material. |