import

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪm.pɔːt/, /ˈɪm.pɔɹt/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English importen, borrowed from Latin importāre (“to bring in, convey; in Medieval Latin to imply, mean”),^[2][3][4] from in-, into, and portāre (“to carry”) (see port),^[2][3][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to lead, pass over”).^[3] The trade sense was influenced by Middle French importer.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To convey information, signify: probably before 1425 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To bring in from an outside source is first recorded in Skelton's Phyllyp Sparowe (1508),^[2][6] and to bring in goods from a foreign country from 1548 (the 1540s).^[2][6][3][7] To imply or mean is from about 1529–33, in Sir Thomas More,^[2][6] and to be important from the 1580s.^[3] The noun, consequence, importance, is from the 1580s,^[3][5] and that which is imported from the 1680s (17th century in Hoad).^[3][5] To transfer a file between programs is a computing sense.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1425 – to signify.^[2]
• 1508 – to bring in.^[2]
• 1548 – to bring in goods.^[2]
• 1580s – importance (noun).^[3]
• 1680s – something imported.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To bring in goods or services from a foreign country for sale.
2. To bring in from an outside source: to import foreign words.
3. (computing) To transfer data or a file from one program or system to another.
4. (formal) To mean or signify.

Noun

1. Something imported, or the business of importing.
2. (formal) Meaning or significance: a matter of great import.

Word family

• importability
• importable
• importer
• nonimport
• reimport
• unimported
• unimporting
• importee

Related words

• importance
• important
• export
• transport
• portable
• porter

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin