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import

[verb im-pawrt, -pohrt; noun im-pawrt, -pohrt]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to bring in (merchandise, commodities, workers, etc.) from a foreign country for use, sale, processing, reexport, or services.
  2. to bring or introduce from one use, connection, or relation into another: foreign bodies imported into the blood; foodstuffs imported from the farm.
  3. to convey as meaning or implication; signify: Her words imported a change of attitude.
  4. to involve as a necessary circumstance; imply: Religion imports belief.
  5. Computers. to bring (documents, data, etc.) into one software program from another.
  6. Archaic. to be of consequence or importance to; concern.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to be of consequence or importance; to matter: We are friends, and it does not import that we have only just met.
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noun
  1. something that is imported from abroad; an imported commodity or article.
  2. the act of importing or bringing in; importation, as of goods from abroad: the import of foreign cars.
  3. consequence or importance: matters of great import.
  4. meaning; implication; purport: He felt the import of her words.
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Origin of import

1400–50; late Middle English importen < Latin importāre. See im-1, port5
Related formsim·port·a·ble, adjectiveim·port·a·bil·i·ty, nounim·port·er, nounnon·im·port, nouno·ver·im·port, verb (used with object)pre·im·port, verb (used with object)pre·im·port, nounun·im·port·ed, adjectiveun·im·port·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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10. significance, sense.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for import

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She was so full of her own thoughts at that time, that she did not fairly take in the import of her words.

    Rico and Wiseli

    Johanna Spyri

  • What mean these two days wasted at Axminster at a time when every hour is of import?

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • And then there is not such mystery about these matters as we import into them.

  • She continued, therefore, without troubling herself as to their import.

    Gomez Arias

    Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso

  • It seemed to be a question directed to them, but the import of it was lost.

British Dictionary definitions for import

import

verb (ɪmˈpɔːt, ˈɪmpɔːt)
  1. to buy or bring in (goods or services) from a foreign countryCompare export
  2. (tr) to bring in from an outside sourceto import foreign words into the language
  3. rare to signify or be significant; mean; conveyto import doom
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noun (ˈɪmpɔːt)
  1. (often plural)
    1. goods (visible imports) or services (invisible imports) that are bought from foreign countries
    2. (as modifier)an import licence
  2. significance or importancea man of great import
  3. meaning or signification
  4. Canadian informal a sportsman or -woman who is not native to the country in which he or she plays
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Derived Formsimportable, adjectiveimportability, nounimporter, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin importāre to carry in, from im- + portāre to carry
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for import

v.

early 15c., "convey information, express, make known, signify," from Latin importare "bring in, convey," from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (see in- (2)) + portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)). Sense of "bring in goods from abroad" first recorded c.1500. Related: Imported; importing.

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n.

"consequence, importance," 1580s; sense of "that which is imported" is from 1680s; both from import (v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper