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import

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To bring in from a foreign country.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihmpawrt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪmˈpɔɹt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To bring (something) in from a foreign country, especially for sale or trade.

  2. Bring in from abroad

  3. intransitive

    To be important; to be significant; to be of consequence.

  4. transitive

    To be incumbent on (someone to do something).

  5. Indicate or signify

  6. transitive

    To mean, signify.

noun

  1. countable

    Something brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade.

  2. countablephilippines

    A foreigner playing in a sports league.

  3. uncountable

    The quality or condition of being important or worthy of note.

  4. uncountable

    The practice of importing.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To bring (something) in from a foreign country, especially for sale or trade.

Used this way, import is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

import dutyimport substitutionimport bankimport tradeoil import

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • importingnounInflected form

    The commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country.

  • importernounInflected form

    Someone whose business involves importing goods from outside (especially from a foreign country).

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • importancenounDerived noun

    The quality of being important and worthy of note.

  • importationnounDerived noun

    The commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • import dutynounCompound term

    A duty imposed on imports.

  • import creditnounCompound term

    Credit opened by an importer at a bank in his own country upon which an exporter may draw.

  • import barriernounCompound term

    Any regulation or policy that restricts international trade.

  • of importadjectiveCompound term

    Of great significance or value.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.