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Import vs Impact - What's the difference?

import | impact | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between import and impact

is that import is to mean, signify while impact is to collide or strike.

import

English

Etymology 1

(verb) From (etyl) importen, from (etyl) importer, from (etyl) .

Noun

(wikipedia import)
  • (countable) Something brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade.
  • (uncountable) The practice of importing.
  • (uncountable) Significance, importance.
  • Synonyms
    * (significance) importancy, importance, meaning, significance, weight
    Antonyms
    * (practice of importing) export * (something brought in from a foreign country) export * insignificance

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bring (something) in from a foreign country, especially for sale or trade.
  • To load a file into a software application from another version or system.
  • How can I import files from older versions of this application?
    Derived terms
    * importable * important * importer * importation
    Antonyms
    * (bring in from a foreign country) export

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) importare, and (etyl) importer, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To be important; to be significant; to be of consequence.
  • * 1661 , Thomas Salusbury:
  • See how much it importeth to learn to take Time by the Fore-Top.''
  • To be of importance to (someone or something).
  • * 1593 , Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost :
  • This Letter is mistooke: it importeth none here: It is writ to laquenetta.
  • * Dryden
  • If I endure it, what imports it you?
  • To be incumbent on (someone to do something).
  • * 1762 , David Hume, The History of England :
  • It imports us to get all the aid and assistance we can.
  • To be important or crucial to (that something happen).
  • * 1819 , Shelley, "The Cenci":
  • It much imports your house That all should be made clear.
  • To mean, signify.
  • * Hooker
  • Every petition always import a multitude of speakers together.
  • (archaic) To express, to imply.
  • References

    * English heteronyms ----

    impact

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The striking of one body against another; collision.
  • The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
  • The hatchet cut the wood on impact .
  • (chiefly, medicine) A forced impinging.
  • His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact , which caused numbness in his leg.
  • A significant or strong influence; an effect.
  • His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
    Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary. * The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above) * There are English speakers who are so ). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect'' and the verb sense with ''affect , which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)

    Derived terms

    * impactful * impactive * impact statement * Western impact

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.
  • If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.
  • (proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an on.
  • ''I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
  • To collide or strike.
  • When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.

    Usage notes

    Some authorities object to the verb sense of impact'', meaning "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on" or "to collide or strike". Although most .

    Derived terms

    * impactor