Importer

How to spell importer

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce importer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does importer mean?

1. nounA person or company that brings goods into a country to sell.

Importer in a sentence

• The wine importer sources bottles from small French vineyards.

• As a coffee importer, she negotiates directly with growers overseas.

Where does importer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the Latin verb portare, meaning 'to carry', combined with the prefix im- (a form of in- meaning 'in' or 'into'), so the literal idea is 'to carry in'. The verb 'import' entered English in the late 1400s and early 1500s, partly through French and partly straight from Latin importare, first in the sense of carrying meaning or significance into something and soon afterwards in the commercial sense of bringing goods into a country. The agent noun 'importer', formed by adding the everyday English suffix -er meaning 'one who does', names the person or company that brings those goods in. The same portare root carries its load into a whole fleet of relatives, including 'export', 'transport', 'porter' and 'portable'. Because the spelling simply stacks recognisable pieces (im + port + er), the only thing to watch is keeping the single p and the -er ending rather than -or.

How the word is built

• im- (in, into)
• port (carry, from Latin portare)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)