Meanings
import1
nounimport (countable and uncountable, plural imports)
plural imports
- countableSomething brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade.
Trump’s July 8 announcement of a 50% tariff on copper imports beginning August 1 sent prices surging 13% in one day, up to a record high of $5.69 per pound.
2025 July 17, John Towfighi, “Copper prices have surged to record highs — and they could jump higher. Here’s why”, in CNN Business - PhilippinescountableA foreigner playing in a sports league.
verbimport (third-person singular simple present imports, present participle importing, simple past and past participle imported)
present singular third person imports · participle present importing · participle past imported · past imported
- transitiveTo bring (something) in from a foreign country, especially for sale or trade.
Nauru imports foods from Australia because phosphate mining destroyed land for farming.
Antonyms: export
import2
verbimport (third-person singular simple present imports, present participle importing, simple past and past participle imported)
present singular third person imports · participle present importing · participle past imported · past imported
- intransitiveTo be important; to be significant; to be of consequence.
See how much it importeth to learn to take Time by the Fore-Top.
1661, Thomas Salusbury, (Please provide the book title or journal name) - transitiveTo be of importance to (someone or something).
If I endure it, what imports it you?
1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number)1 more example
This Letter is mistooke: it importeth none here: It is writ to laquenetta.
1593, Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost - transitiveTo be incumbent on (someone to do something).
It imports us to get all the aid and assistance we can.
1762, David Hume, The History of England - transitiveTo be important or crucial to (that something happen).
It much imports your house That all should be made clear.
1819, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Cenci - transitiveTo mean, signify.
Every petition […] doth […] always import a multitude of speakers together.
[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page) - archaictransitiveTo express, to imply.
nounimport (plural imports)
plural imports
- datedThe meaning of a term, statement, etc.
The greater part of the English words derived from the Anglo-Saxon exist also in German, either with the same import— as 𝔉𝔢𝔲𝔢𝔯, fire; 𝔅𝔯𝔲𝔡𝔢𝔯, brother,— or with a kindred import, as 𝔏𝔲ſ𝔱 (pleasure), lust; ℌ𝔲𝔫𝔡 (dog), hound.
1851, G. M. Heilner, The Grammar of the German Language - uncountableSignificance, importance
It was a matter of great import.
1 more example
There is, too, a little mentioned aspect of the tunnel which contributes to its failings. You never see the sea while approaching it from either the British or French side. That takes away from the import of the journey - a historic link between Britain and the continent. Instead, it is just a tunnel.
2023 December 27, Christian Wolmar, “Hope springs eternal for greater use of the Channel Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 999, page 26
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe practice of importing.
Similar
verbTo bring (something) in from a foreign country, especially for sale or trade.
Opposite
verbTo load a file into a software application from another version or system.
Opposite
significance
antonym(s) of “practice of importing”
Opposite
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
nouncommodities (goods or services) bought from a foreign country
Similar
Opposite
nounthe message that is intended or expressed or signified
Broader
nouna meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
import · noun, verb
- Latinimportō“bring in from abroad, import”
- Old Frenchemporter
- Middle Englishimporten
- Englishimport
From Middle English importen, from Old French emporter, importer, from Latin importō (“bring in from abroad, import”, verb), from in (“in, at, on; into”) + portō (“to carry, bear; convey”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic وَارِدَات, اِسْتِيرَاد
- وَارِدَات (wāridāt)something brought in from a foreign country
- اِسْتِيرَاد (istīrād)practice of importing
- تَوْرِيد (tawrīd)practice of importing
- اِسْتَوْرَدَ (istawrada)to bring in from a foreign country
- وَرَّدَ (warrada)to bring in from a foreign country
Bengali আমদানি
- আমদানি (amdani)practice of importing
Bulgarian внос, внос
- внос (vnos)something brought in from a foreign country
- внос (vnos)practice of importing
- импо́рт (impórt)practice of importing
- сми́съл (smísăl)significance, importance
- значе́ние (značénie)significance, importance
- внасям (vnasjam)to bring in from a foreign country
- зареждам (zareždam)to load files into a computer from another source
Catalan importació, importar
- importaciósomething brought in from a foreign country
- importarto bring in from a foreign country
Chinese Cantonese 進口 /进口, 輸入 /输入
- 進口 /进口 (zeon³ hau²)practice of importing
- 輸入 /输入 (syu¹ jap⁶)practice of importing
Chinese Mandarin 進口貨 /进口货, 舶來品 /舶来品
- 進口貨 /进口货 (jìnkǒuhuò)something brought in from a foreign country
- 舶來品 /舶来品 (bóláipǐn)something brought in from a foreign country
- 外國貨 /外国货 (wàiguóhuò)something brought in from a foreign country
- 進口 /进口 (jìnkǒu)practice of importing
- 輸入 /输入 (shūrù)practice of importing
- 進口 /进口 (jìnkǒu)to bring in from a foreign country
- 輸入 /输入 (shūrù)to bring in from a foreign country
Czech dovoz, import
- dovozpractice of importing
- importpractice of importing
- dovéztto bring in from a foreign country
Danish import, indførsel
- importpractice of importing
- indførselpractice of importing
- importereto bring in from a foreign country
- indføreto bring in from a foreign country
Dutch import, invoer
- importsomething brought in from a foreign country
- invoersomething brought in from a foreign country
- importpractice of importing
- invoerpractice of importing
- invoervergunninglicence for import
- belangsignificance, importance
- gewichtsignificance, importance
- invoerento bring in from a foreign country
- importerento bring in from a foreign country
Esperanto importi, importi
- importito bring in from a foreign country
- importito load files into a computer from another source
- gravito be important
Estonian import, importima
- importpractice of importing
- importimato bring in from a foreign country
- (sisse) toomato bring in from a foreign country
Finnish tuontitavara, importti
- tuontitavarasomething brought in from a foreign country
- importtisomething brought in from a foreign country
- tuontipractice of importing
- maahantuontipractice of importing
- tärkeyssignificance, importance
- merkityksellisyyssignificance, importance
- tuoda (maahan)to bring in from a foreign country
French importation, importer
- importationpractice of importing
- importerto bring in from a foreign country
- importerto load files into a computer from another source
- importerto be important
- compterto be important
German Importware, Importgut
- Importwaresomething brought in from a foreign country
- Importgutsomething brought in from a foreign country
- Importpractice of importing
- Einfuhrpractice of importing
- importierento bring in from a foreign country
- einführento bring in from a foreign country
Greek εισαγωγή, εισαγωγή
- εισαγωγή (eisagogí)something brought in from a foreign country
- εισαγωγή (eisagogí)practice of importing
- εισάγω (eiságo)to bring in from a foreign country
Hebrew ייבוא, יְבוּא
- ייבוא (y'ivu)something brought in from a foreign country
- יְבוּא (yevú)practice of importing
- ייבא (yibé)to bring in from a foreign country
Hindi आयात, आयात
- आयात (āyāt)something brought in from a foreign country
- आयात (āyāt)practice of importing
- आयात करना (āyāt karnā)to bring in from a foreign country
Hungarian import, importálás
- importsomething brought in from a foreign country
- importáláspractice of importing
- behozatalpractice of importing
- importpractice of importing
- importálto bring in from a foreign country
Icelandic innflutningur, flytja inn
- innflutningurpractice of importing
- flytja innto bring in from a foreign country
- flytja innto load files into a computer from another source
Indonesian impor, mengimpor
- imporpractice of importing
- mengimporto bring in from a foreign country
Irish iompórtáil, allmhaire
- iompórtáilsomething brought in from a foreign country
- allmhairesomething brought in from a foreign country
- allmhairiúpractice of importing
- iompórtáilpractice of importing
- iompórtáilto bring in from a foreign country
- allmhairighto bring in from a foreign country
Italian importazione, importare
- importazionepractice of importing
- importareto bring in from a foreign country
Japanese 輸入品, 輸入
- 輸入品 (yunyūhin)something brought in from a foreign country
- 輸入 (yunyū)practice of importing
- 輸入する (yunyū-suru)to bring in from a foreign country
Korean 수입품, 수입
- 수입품 (su'ip'pum)something brought in from a foreign country
- 수입 (su'ip)practice of importing
- 수입하다 (su'iphada)to bring in from a foreign country
Latin advectō
- advectōto bring in from a foreign country
Latvian imports, importēt
- importspractice of importing
- importētto bring in from a foreign country
Lithuanian importas, importúoti
- importaspractice of importing
- importúotito bring in from a foreign country
- įvèžtito bring in from a foreign country
Malay import
- importpractice of importing
Māori kawe mai
- kawe maito load files into a computer from another source
Norwegian Bokmål import
- importpractice of importing
Polish import, import
- importsomething brought in from a foreign country
- importpractice of importing
- przywózpractice of importing
- zapożyczaćto bring in from a foreign country
- zapożyczyćto bring in from a foreign country
- importowaćto bring in from a foreign country
- zaimportowaćto bring in from a foreign country
- importowaćto load files into a computer from another source
- zaimportowaćto load files into a computer from another source
Portuguese importados, importação
- importadossomething brought in from a foreign country
- importaçãopractice of importing
- importânciasignificance, importance
- significânciasignificance, importance
- importarto bring in from a foreign country
Romanian import, importare
- importpractice of importing
- importarepractice of importing
- importato bring in from a foreign country
Russian и́мпорт, и́мпорт
- и́мпорт (ímport)something brought in from a foreign country
- и́мпорт (ímport)practice of importing
- ввоз (vvoz)practice of importing
- смысл (smysl)significance, importance
- значе́ние (značénije)significance, importance
- импорти́ровать (importírovatʹ)to bring in from a foreign country
- ввози́ть (vvozítʹ)to bring in from a foreign country
- ввезти́ (vveztí)to bring in from a foreign country
- импортировать (importirovatʹ)to load files into a computer from another source
Scottish Gaelic susbaint
- susbaintsignificance, importance
Slovak dovoz, import
- dovozpractice of importing
- importpractice of importing
Spanish importación, importación
- importaciónsomething brought in from a foreign country
- importaciónpractice of importing
- importanciasignificance, importance
- significadosignificance, importance
- importarto bring in from a foreign country
- importarto be important
Swedish import, införsel
- importsomething brought in from a foreign country
- införselsomething brought in from a foreign country
- importpractice of importing
- införselpractice of importing
- viktsignificance, importance
- betydelsesignificance, importance
- importerato bring in from a foreign country
- föra into bring in from a foreign country
Thai การนำเข้า, นำเข้า
- การนำเข้า (gaan-nam-kâo)practice of importing
- นำเข้า (nam-kâo)to bring in from a foreign country
Turkish ithal, ithalat
- ithalsomething brought in from a foreign country
- ithalatpractice of importing
Ukrainian і́мпорт, і́мпорт
- і́мпорт (ímport)something brought in from a foreign country
- і́мпорт (ímport)practice of importing
- ввіз (vviz)practice of importing
- вве́зення (vvézennja)practice of importing
- імпортува́ння (importuvánnja)practice of importing
- зна́чення (znáčennja)significance, importance
- імпортува́ти (importuváty)to bring in from a foreign country
- уво́зити (uvózyty)to bring in from a foreign country
- вво́зити (vvózyty)to bring in from a foreign country
- увезти́ (uveztý)to bring in from a foreign country
- ввезти́ (vveztý)to bring in from a foreign country
Urdu آیات, اِمْپورْٹ
- آیات (āyāt)something brought in from a foreign country
- اِمْپورْٹ (imporṭ)practice of importing
- دَر آمَد (dar āmad)practice of importing
- آیات (āyāt)practice of importing
- اَہْمِیَت (ahmiyat)significance, importance
- مَطْلَب (matlab)significance, importance
Vietnamese nhập khẩu, nhập khẩu
- nhập khẩupractice of importing
- nhập khẩuto bring in from a foreign country
- nhập cảngto bring in from a foreign country
Welsh mewnforyn, mewnforio
- mewnforynsomething brought in from a foreign country
- mewnforiopractice of importing
- pwyssignificance, importance
- mewnforioto bring in from a foreign country
- bod yn bwysigto be important
- bod o bwysto be important
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with import
supportreportcourtshortsortportsporttransportresortfortexportescorttortquartforteabortsnortwortmortortdistortconsortthwartretort
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
import. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/import
MLA
“import.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/import. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “import,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/import.
Source: import on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.