Etymologically
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importance

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɪmˈpɔː.təns/, US /ɪmˈpɔːr.təns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French importance,[2][3][4] or directly from Medieval Latin importantia (“significance, consequence”),[2][4][5] from important- “being of consequence”, from importāre,[4] the source of important and import.[2][4] Merriam-Webster takes the French word from Old Italian importanza.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being important, or of signifying: 1508 in the OED,[6] about 1500 in Etymonline,[2] the early 16th century in NODE and SOED.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

An important matter is from 1570,[6] and an important person from the late 16th century in SOED, 1896 in the OED.[5][6] Urgency or importunity was a sense in the 16th century, now obsolete,[6] and a dignified style or air of consequence, pompousness, from 1607.[6] Personal consequence or standing is from 1678.[6]

Timeline

  • 1508 – significance.[6]
  • 1570 – an important matter.[6]
  • 1607 – an air of consequence.[6]
  • 1678 – personal standing.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being important; significance.
  2. Personal status or standing; consequence.
  3. (archaic) An important matter.
  4. (obsolete) Importunity.

Word family

  • unimportance
  • self-importance

Usage notes

Importance, consequence, moment, significance, import and weight all refer to being significant or worthy of note; importance is the most general.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin