ə̇mˈpȯr]t ə n(t)s, -ȯ(ə)], chiefly in NewEng & the South ]d.ən- or ]tən- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian importanza, from importante
1.
a. : the quality or state of being important : weight , significance
an event of importance in the history of the country
a natural resource of great importance to industry
b. : an important aspect or bearing
this feat has several importances — Time
2. obsolete : import , meaning , signification
3. obsolete : importunity , solicitation
4. obsolete : a matter of importance
Synonyms:
consequence , significance , import , moment , weight : importance , the most general of these nouns, signifies a quality or state that is of value or influence, often with the implication that this is in someone's opinion
issues which, whilst not the major significance, have some importance — Current History
the importance of taking a wide, strategic view has prevailed — A.P.Ryan
her sense of importance will help her — H.M.Parshley
a position of some importance in industry
clusters of huge inverted pleats that add importance to the skirt — Lois Long
When used interchangeably with importance , consequence often applies to social rank, public position, or reputation but more generally implies an importance by reason of effects, results, or interrelationships
a man of some consequence
a subscription library in every town of consequence in the country — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
the newspapers have been demanding these things for years, and nothing of any real and lasting consequence ever seems to happen — Herman Kogan
significance can be used interchangeably with importance or consequence , although in meaning basically that which is signified ( to anyone ) it usually stresses strongly the mere fact of having value or worth and sometimes the relativity of that value or worth
a person of some significance
here, in 1864, occurred a battle of some strategic significance — American Guide Series: Arkansas
a temper tantrum once in a while should be overlooked for it has little significance — H.R.Litchfield & L.H.Dembo
such trivia take on significance only if the reader is able to catch the subtle hints of impending disaster — Leland Miles
a generation of boys and girls who understand the social significance of the family — Current Biography
import usually stresses, even more than significance , the relativity of the value or worth, bringing out the idea of a significance bearing upon or in relation to person or thing specified or strongly implied
the Contemporary Theater, concentrating on plays of sociological import — American Guide Series: Michigan
when we allow our mind to dwell upon such considerations as these, the entire import of the illustration changes — John Dewey
the differences between one variety of man and another, points of negligible import in medicine — A.L.Kroeber
other measures of international import upon which he voted — Current Biography
moment , very like significance or import though less frequent in oral communication, usually suggests worthiness of consideration, often stressing the conspicuousness or self-evidence of the significance or worthiness
some excerpts describe matters of greater moment than do others — Times Literary Supplement
the questions before the Department of State were many and of grave moment — W.C.Ford
the material inequalities of our worldly life will be found to be of no moment in the hereafter — P.G.Waris
weight tends to stress largeness of possible consequence or import as of something that must be taken into account or whose presence does or may seriously alter an outcome
men who take the lead, and whose opinions and wishes have great weight with the others — J.G.Frazer
the author's expertness in the field lends weight to his conclusions — H.M.Hyman
a gap between their appreciation of a man's value at any moment and his real weight — Hilaire Belloc
diplomatic questions remained, but they had no such weight as those of the wartime — W.C.Ford