importance

[im-pawr-tns] /ɪmˈpɔr tns/
noun
1.
the quality or state of being important; consequence; significance.
2.
important position or standing; personal or social consequence.
3.
consequential air or manner:
an air of bustling importance.
4.
Obsolete. an important matter.
5.
Obsolete, importunity.
6.
Obsolete, import or meaning.
Origin
1495-1505; < Medieval Latin importantia. See important, -ance
Related forms
preimportance, noun
unimportance, noun
Can be confused
importance, impotence (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. moment, weight, concern. Importance, consequence, significance, moment all signify something valuable, influential, or worthy of note. Importance is the most general of these, assigning exceptional or notable value or influence to a person or thing: the importance of Einstein's discoveries. Consequence may suggest outstanding personal quality or position, or it may suggest importance because of results to be produced: a woman of consequence in world affairs; an event of great consequence for our future. Significance can be used interchangeably with importance or consequence, but it carries also the implication of importance that is not readily or immediately recognized: The significance of the discovery only became clear years later. Moment, on the other hand, almost always refers to immediately apparent, self-evident importance: a change of great moment for the nation's political system.
Examples from the web for importance
  • He was overburdened not so much by the weight of his learning as by a mistaken sense of its importance and authority.
  • Neither do letters that spend paragraph after paragraph describing your dissertation and its importance to the field.
  • The rising importance of the world's new giants will not only boost growth.
  • The finding highlights the importance of females in understanding evolution of primate society, say scientists.
  • Their decision, of course, hinged on the importance of the paper.
  • There has been a lot of press about the importance of quality teachers lately.
  • Look around and it's impossible to miss the importance of social interactions to human society.
  • Image gains importance in admissions season, and this one's a doozy.
  • Hence the importance of the second response: a concerted effort to reduce the implicit state guarantees.
  • Have students discuss the importance of paleoanthropology.
British Dictionary definitions for importance

importance

/ɪmˈpɔːtəns/
noun
1.
the state of being important; significance
2.
social status; standing; esteem: a man of importance
3.
(obsolete)
  1. meaning or signification
  2. an important matter
  3. importunity
Word Origin and History for importance
n.

c.1500, from Middle French importance or directly from Medieval Latin importantia, from importantem (see important).