Other forms: imported, imports, importing
To import is to bring goods in from another country. Import wine, imported from Italy, import duty.
The stress is on the second syllable for the verb and the first for the noun: an import. Imports and exports are the two halves of trade, and the difference is the balance of trade. In computing, to import is to bring data into a program: import the file, import contacts. Note importer; import duty and tariff; and that of no import is a formal phrase meaning of no importance, from the same root.
1verbimportTo bring goods in from another country.
“Britain imports a lot of its fruit from Spain.”
2verbdataTo bring data into a program.
“You can import your contacts from your old phone into the new app.”
import is a bringing in.
Latin importare is in-, in, plus portare, to carry — the same verb as porter, portable and transport. Importing is carrying in, and important comes from the same idea of something that carries weight.
Latin
importō — bring in from abroad, import
Old French
emporter
Middle English
importen
English, today
import
Built from
From Middle English importen, from Old French emporter, importer, from Latin importō (“bring in from abroad, import”), from in (“in, at, on; into”) + portō (“to carry, bear; convey”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA