import - Definition of import at Define.com Dictionary and Thesaurus (define import)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Import \Im*port"\, verb (used without an object) To signify; to purport; to be of moment. ''For that . . . importeth to the work.'' --Bacon.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Import \Im"port\, noun

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.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Import \Im*port"\, verb (used with an object) [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 Brazil, 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.

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

import

noun

1: commodities (goods or services) bought from a foreign country [syn: {importation}] [ant: {export}]

2: an imported person brought from a foreign country; "the lead role was played by an import from Sweden"; "they are descendants of indentured importees" [syn: {importee}]

3: the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambigtuous" [syn: {meaning}, {significance}, {signification}]

4: a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred; "the significance of his remark became clear only later"; "the expectation was spread both by word and by implication" [syn: {significance}, {implication}]

5: having important effects or influence; "decisions of great consequence are made by the president himself"; "virtue is of more moment that security" [syn: {consequence}, {moment}] [ant: {inconsequence}]

verb

1: bring in from abroad [ant: {export}]

2: indicate or signify; "I'm afraid this spells trouble!" [syn: {spell}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

278 Moby Thesaurus words for "import": accent, acceptation, access, add up to, admission, affective meaning, allegorize, allegory, allude to, allusion, amount to something, arcane meaning, argue, assign, assume, assumption, be construed as, be featured, be prominent, be somebody, be something, bearing, bespeak, betoken, breathe, bring in, bring to mind, carry over, carry weight, coloration, coloring, communicate, communication, concern, concernment, conduction, connotation, connote, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, consign, construction, contagion, convection, convey, count, cut ice, cut some ice, deliver, delivery, denotation, denote, deport, deportation, design, diapedesis, diffuse, diffusion, disseminate, dissemination, drift, effect, emphasis, entail, entrance, entree, entry, essence, excellence, expel, export, exportation, express, expulsion, extension, extradite, extradition, force, get top billing, gist, grammatical meaning, hand forward, hand on, hand over, high order, high rank, hint, idea, impact, impart, implicate, implication, implied meaning, imply, importance, importation, importing, income, incoming, indicate, infer, inference, infiltration, ingoing, ingress, ingression, innuendo, input, insertion, insinuate, insinuation, intake, intend, intendment, intension, intent, intention, interchange, interest, interpenetration, interpretation, intimate, intimation, introduce, introduction, introgression, intrusion, involve, ironic suggestion, leakage, lexical meaning, literal meaning, magnitude, make over, mark, materiality, matter, mean, mean to say, meaning, merit, message, metaphorical sense, metastasis, metastasize, metathesis, metathesize, metempsychosis, migration, moment, momentousness, mutual transfer, note, nuance, object, objective, occult meaning, osmosis, overtone, paramountcy, pass, pass on, pass over, pass the buck, passage, passing over, penetration, percolation, perfuse, perfusion, pertinence, pith, point, point indirectly to, practical consequence, precedence, preeminence, presume, presumption, presuppose, presupposition, primacy, priority, purport, purpose, range of meaning, real meaning, reception, refer to, reference, referent, relation, relay, relevance, scope, seepage, self-importance, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, significance, significancy, signification, significatum, signifie, signify, span of meaning, spell, spirit, spread, spreading, stand for, stand out, star, stress, structural meaning, subsense, subsidiary sense, substance, suggest, suggestion, sum, sum and substance, superiority, suppose, supposition, supremacy, switch, symbolic meaning, symbolism, symbolize, take for granted, tell, tenor, thrust, tinge, totality of associations, touch, transduction, transfer, transfer of property, transfer property, transference, transferred meaning, transfuse, transfusion, transit, transition, translate, translation, translocate, translocation, transmigration, transmigration of souls, transmission, transmit, transmittal, transmittance, transplace, transplacement, transplant, transplantation, transposal, transpose, transposition, travel, turn over, unadorned meaning, undercurrent, undermeaning, understanding, undertone, value, weigh, weight, weightiness, worth