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.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recommended tariffs of 10% to 12.5% for 60 trading partners because of their “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
He also represented Alex Saab, who American prosecutors said laundered money for Venezuela’s former strongman, Nicolás Maduro, and oversaw the importation of often-rotten food to a poverty-stricken country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Generally, the Food and Drug Administration bans the importation of drugs from abroad, although there is some leeway for medications bought for personal use in quantities of no more than three months’ supply.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
Jesse Agus Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was charged with one felony count of importation contrary to law following the Oct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
The following year, Mexico forbids further American colonization of Texas and prohibits the importation of more slaves into the territory.
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.
