Etymology

important

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Today it means: Having relevant and crucial value; having import. Full definition →

Middle English important ← Medieval Latin important-, importāns
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromimportant-, importāns
  2. Middle English · inherited fromimportant
  3. English todayimportant

From Middle English important, from Medieval Latin important-, importāns. By surface analysis, import (“to be important”) + -ant. Displaced native Old English hēah and hefiġ.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.