Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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.
\Im*port"\, v. i. To signify; to purport; to be of moment. ``For that . . . importeth to the work.'' --Bacon.
\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.