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; signify; 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.
