Importance

How to spell importance

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce importance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does importance mean?

1. nounThe quality of being significant, valuable, or worthy of attention.

Importance in a sentence

• The manager stressed the importance of meeting the deadline.

• Few people grasp the importance of regular savings until retirement.

Where does importance come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb importare, formed from the prefix in- meaning 'into' and portare meaning 'to carry', so its literal sense was 'to carry in' or 'to bring in'. In Medieval Latin the verb developed the figurative meaning 'to be of consequence' or 'to signify', and from this grew the noun importantia, describing the quality of mattering or carrying weight. English took the word in through Old French and Middle French around the 1500s, keeping the sense of significance or value. The same portare root sits inside many familiar relatives such as 'export', 'transport', 'porter' and 'portable', all of which involve carrying. Remembering that something important 'carries weight' helps fix the port spelling at the heart of the word, while the ending follows the regular -ance pattern rather than -ence.

How the word is built

• im- (in/into)
• port (from Latin portare: to carry)
• -ance (noun-forming suffix)