noun
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the act, business, or process of importing goods or services
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an imported product or service
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of importation
Explanation
Importation is what happens when goods are purchased from a foreign country to be sold at home. The importation of cars into the U.S. is what makes it possible for you to buy a Honda or a BMW. If two countries have a trade agreement, it means they've worked out a deal for importation and exportation. When lobster is shipped from Maine and sold in China, that's exportation, and when macarons are baked in Paris and sold in New York, that's U.S. importation. The noun importation comes from the verb import, which first meant "convey information" and then "bring in goods from abroad," from the Latin portare, "to carry."
Vocabulary lists containing importation
Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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The 18th Amendment (1919)
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5.4: The Second Industrial Revolution (Sources 1–8)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such a ban would include sale, importation and manufacturing on US soil.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Among the many changes wrought by the North American Free Trade Agreement was the termination, in 1997, of the U.S. ban on the importation of Mexican avocados.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
The ministry's top official in charge of livestock development, Jonathan Mueke, said the immediate focus was to get more feed for farmers, including through duty-free importation of yellow maize.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The USTR’s office said in a statement that the duties were imposed on economies due to their “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The C.D.C.’s actions effectively stopped the importation of monkeys into the United States for several months.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
