Adjacent Words

Import definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPO'RT, v.t. [L.importo; in and porto,to bar. See Bear.]
1. To bring from a foreign country or jurisdiction, or from another state, into one's own country, jurisdiction or state; opposed to export. We import teas and silks from China, wines from Spain and France,and dry goods from Great Britain. Great Britain imports cotton from American and India. We may say also that Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine import flour from the middle states.
2. To bear or convey, as signification or meaning; to mean; to signify; to imply. We are to understand by a term, what it clearly imports.
3. To be of weight to; to be of moment or consequence to; to bear on the interest of, or to have a bearing on.
Her length of sickness, with what else more serious
Importeth thee to know,this bears.
If I endure it,what imports it you?
IM'PORT, n. That which is borne or conveyed in words; meaning; signification; the sense which words are intended to convey to the understanding, or which they bear in sound interpretation. Import differs from implication in this, that the meaning of a term or number of words in connection is less obscurely expressed. Import depends less on inference or deduction than implication, and is also applied more frequently to a single word. In all philosophical discussions, it is useful to ascertain the import of the terms employed. In the construction of laws and treaties, we are to examine carefully the import of words and phrases.
1. That which is imported or brought into a country from another country or state; generally in the plural. Our imports exceed our exports; the balance must be paid in specie; hence the scarcity of coin.
2. Importance; weight; consequence. [Formerly accented on the second syllable.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: commodities (goods or services) bought from a foreign country [syn: import, importation] [ant: export, exportation]
2: an imported person brought from a foreign country; "the lead role was played by an import from Sweden"; "they are descendants of indentured importees" [syn: import, importee]
3: the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous" [syn: meaning, significance, signification, import]
4: a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred; "the significance of his remark became clear only later"; "the expectation was spread both by word and by implication" [syn: significance, import, implication]
5: having important effects or influence; "decisions of great consequence are made by the president himself"; "virtue is of more moment than security"; "that result is of no consequence" [syn: consequence, import, moment] [ant: inconsequence] v
1: bring in from abroad [ant: export]
2: transfer (electronic data) into a database or document [ant: export]
3: indicate or signify; "I'm afraid this spells trouble!" [syn: spell, import]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin importare to bring in, cause, signify, from Latin, to bring in, cause, from in- + portare to carry — more at fare Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to bear or convey as meaning or portent ; signify b. archaic express, state c. imply 2. to bring from a foreign or external source: as a. to bring (as merchandise) into a place or country from another country b. to transfer (as files or data) from one format to another usually within a new file 3. archaic to be of importance to ; concern intransitive verb to be of consequence ; matter • importable adjective • importer noun II. noun Date: circa 1568 1. importance; especially relative importance <it is hard to judge the import of this decision> 2. purport, signification 3. something that is imported 4. importation

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 bring in (esp. foreign goods or services) to a country. 2 (often foll. by that + clause) a imply, indicate, signify. b express, make known. --n. 1 the process of importing. 2 a an imported article or service. b (in pl.) an amount imported (imports exceeded £50m.). 3 what is implied; meaning. 4 importance. Derivatives: importable adj. importation n. importer n. (all in sense 1 of v.). Etymology: ME f. L importare bring in, in med.L = imply, be of consequence (as IN-(2), portare carry)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Import Im*port", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Imported; p. pr. & vb. n. Importing.] [L. importare to bring in, to occasion, to cause; pref. im- in + portare to bear. Sense 3 comes through F. importer, from the Latin. See Port demeanor.] 1. To bring in from abroad; to introduce from without; especially, to bring (wares or merchandise) into a place or country from a foreign country, in the transactions of commerce; -- opposed to export. We import teas from China, coffee from Brasil, etc. 2. To carry or include, as meaning or intention; to imply; to signify. Every petition . . . doth . . . always import a multitude of speakers together. --Hooker. 3. To be of importance or consequence to; to have a bearing on; to concern. I have a motion much imports your good. --Shak. If I endure it, what imports it you? --Dryden. Syn: To denote; mean; sighify; imply; indicate; betoken; interest; concern.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Import Im*port", v. i. To signify; to purport; to be of moment. ``For that . . . importeth to the work.'' --Bacon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Import Im"port, n. 1. Merchandise imported, or brought into a country from without its boundaries; -- generally in the plural, opposed to exports. I take the imports from, and not the exports to, these conquests, as the measure of these advantages which we derived from them. --Burke. 2. That which a word, phrase, or document contains as its signification or intention or interpretation of a word, action, event, and the like. 3. Importance; weight; consequence. Most serious design, and the great import. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(imported) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. To import products or raw materials means to buy them from another country for use in your own country. Britain last year spent nearly £5000 million more on importing food than selling abroad... To import from Russia, a Ukrainian firm needs Russian roubles. ...imported goods from Mexico and India. ? export VERB: V n, V from n, V-ed • Import is also a noun. Germany, however, insists on restrictions on the import of Polish coal... ? export N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl • importation ...restrictions concerning the importation of birds. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 2. Imports are products or raw materials bought from another country for use in your own country. ...farmers protesting about cheap imports. N-COUNT: usu pl 3. The import of something is its importance. (FORMAL) Such arguments are of little import. = consequence N-UNCOUNT 4. If you import files or information into one type of software from another type, you open them in a format that can be used in the new software. (COMPUTING) You can import files from Microsoft Word 5.1 or MacWrite II. ? export VERB: V n 5. The import of something is its meaning, especially when the meaning is not clearly expressed. (FORMAL) I have already spoken about the import of his speech. N-SING: with poss

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Bring into (a country from abroad). 2. Imply, denote, purport, signify, betoken, mean. 3. Concern, be of importance to, be of consequence to, be of interest to. II. n. 1. Signification, meaning, purport, sense, drift, gist, spirit, bearing, tenor, intention. 2. Imported merchandise. 3. Importance, consequence, weight, moment, significance.

Moby Thesaurus

accent, acceptation, access, add up to, admission, affective meaning, allegorize, allegory, allude to, allusion, amount to something, arcane meaning, argue, assign, assume, assumption, be construed as, be featured, be prominent, be somebody, be something, bearing, bespeak, betoken, breathe, bring in, bring to mind, carry over, carry weight, coloration, coloring, communicate, communication, concern, concernment, conduction, connotation, connote, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, consign, construction, contagion, convection, convey, count, cut ice, cut some ice, deliver, delivery, denotation, denote, deport, deportation, design, diapedesis, diffuse, diffusion, disseminate, dissemination, drift, effect, emphasis, entail, entrance, entree, entry, essence, excellence, expel, export, exportation, express, expulsion, extension, extradite, extradition, force, get top billing, gist, grammatical meaning, hand forward, hand on, hand over, high order, high rank, hint, idea, impact, impart, implicate, implication, implied meaning, imply, importance, importation, importing, income, incoming, indicate, infer, inference, infiltration, ingoing, ingress, ingression, innuendo, input, insertion, insinuate, insinuation, intake, intend, intendment, intension, intent, intention, interchange, interest, interpenetration, interpretation, intimate, intimation, introduce, introduction, introgression, intrusion, involve, ironic suggestion, leakage, lexical meaning, literal meaning, magnitude, make over, mark, materiality, matter, mean, mean to say, meaning, merit, message, metaphorical sense, metastasis, metastasize, metathesis, metathesize, metempsychosis, migration, moment, momentousness, mutual transfer, note, nuance, object, objective, occult meaning, osmosis, overtone, paramountcy, pass, pass on, pass over, pass the buck, passage, passing over, penetration, percolation, perfuse, perfusion, pertinence, pith, point, point indirectly to, practical consequence, precedence, preeminence, presume, presumption, presuppose, presupposition, primacy, priority, purport, purpose, range of meaning, real meaning, reception, refer to, reference, referent, relation, relay, relevance, scope, seepage, self-importance, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, significance, significancy, signification, significatum, signifie, signify, span of meaning, spell, spirit, spread, spreading, stand for, stand out, star, stress, structural meaning, subsense, subsidiary sense, substance, suggest, suggestion, sum, sum and substance, superiority, suppose, supposition, supremacy, switch, symbolic meaning, symbolism, symbolize, take for granted, tell, tenor, thrust, tinge, totality of associations, touch, transduction, transfer, transfer of property, transfer property, transference, transferred meaning, transfuse, transfusion, transit, transition, translate, translation, translocate, translocation, transmigration, transmigration of souls, transmission, transmit, transmittal, transmittance, transplace, transplacement, transplant, transplantation, transposal, transpose, transposition, travel, turn over, unadorned meaning, undercurrent, undermeaning, understanding, undertone, value, weigh, weight, weightiness, worth