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.
But due to the health risks from inhaling asbestos, the importation of blue and brown asbestos has been banned in the UK since 1985.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
While Congress banned slave importation in 1808, it didn’t ban the buying and selling of people.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
In 1807, Congress passed and President Jefferson signed a bill prohibiting the importation of slaves.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
Justice Amy Coney Barrett said she was struggling to understand what Congress meant in the emergency powers law when it said the president may “regulate” importation.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2025
On March 3, 1807, Thomas Jefferson signed into law Congress’s ban on the importation of slaves, to take effect January 1, 1808.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
