importare

Importare is an Italian verb with several related meanings centered on bringing something in or making something meaningful. Its etymology traces to Latin importare, from in (into) + portare (to carry), and it evolved into a standard first-conjugation verb in Italian.

The primary sense of importare is to bring goods or products into a country for sale or distribution. This usage is common in trade, economics, and business. Examples include: L’Italia importa olio d’oliva dalla Spagna. Le aziende italiane importano componenti dall’estero. In this context, the noun l’importazione refers to the act of importing, while l’importatore denotes the importer.

A second meaning describes something having importance or relevance to someone. In this sense, importare is often used with clitic pronouns to indicate who is affected: Mi importa la tua opinione (your opinion matters to me); Non mi importa se piove (I don’t care if it rains). The sense can take plural subjects as well: Mi importano i dettagli (The details matter to me).

A third, specialized sense concerns data or objects being brought into a system, especially in computing and information technology. In this usage, importare means to bring data, files, or settings into a program, database, or application. Examples: Devi importare un file CSV nel database. Il programma importa automaticamente i dati dal cloud.

Conjugation in the present indicative is regular for the -are verbs: io importo, tu importi, lui/lei importa, noi importiamo, voi importate, loro importano. The verb also forms compounds with the past participle: importato.