different between sedate vs important

English

Etymology

From Latin sedatus, past participle of sedare (“to settle”), causative of sedere (“to sit”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /s??de?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /s??de?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Adjective

sedate (comparative more sedate, superlative most sedate)

1. (of a person or their behaviour) Remaining composed and dignified, and avoiding too much activity or excitement.

   Synonyms: placid, staid, unruffled

   • 1642, Richard Watson, A Sermon Touching Schisme, Cambridge: Roger Daniel, p. 27,^[1]

     […] they will rashly huddle up all together, and not admitting the least check of a sedate judgement, publish onely the impetuous dictates of their indiscreet and too precipitant fancie […]

   • 1715, Alexander Pope (translator), The Iliad: of Homer, London: Bernard Lintott, Book 3, p. 5, lines 87-88,^[2]

     But who like thee can boast a Soul sedate,

     So firmly Proof to all the Shocks of Fate?

   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Chapter 16,^[3]

     A reel or fling of some sort was in progress; and the usually sedate Farfrae was in the midst of the other dancers in the costume of a wild Highlander, flinging himself about and spinning to the tune.

   • 1989, Hilary Mantel, Fludd, New York: Henry Holt, 2000, Chapter 9, p. 149,^[4]

     Then she saw that they were waving their handkerchiefs; dipping them up and down, with a curiously sedate, formal motion.

2. (of an object, particularly a building) Not overly ornate or showy.
   • 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography, Penguin, 1942, Chapter 6, p. 194,^[5]

     Sometimes she passed down avenues of sedate mansions, soberly numbered ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, and so on right up to two or three hundred, each the copy of the other, with two pillars and six steps and a pair of curtains neatly drawn […]

   • 1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York: Macmillan, 1964, Part 4, Chapter 37,^[6]

     The shiny carriages of Yankee officers’ wives and newly rich Carpetbaggers splashed mud on the dilapidated buggies of the townspeople, and gaudy new homes of wealthy strangers crowded in among the sedate dwellings of older citizens.

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1986, “Grown Up,” pp. 164-165,^[7]

     Facing the Parliament Buildings across James’ Bay arose a sedate stone and cement Post Office.

   • 1985, Doris Lessing, The Good Terrorist, London: Jonathan Cape, p. 352^[8]

     The great hotel, with its look of sedate luxury, brooded massively there with people teeming about it.

Derived terms

• sedately
• sedateness

Translations

Verb

sedate (third-person singular simple present sedates, present participle sedating, simple past and past participle sedated)

1. To calm or put (a person) to sleep using a sedative drug.

   Synonym: tranquilize

   • 1990, J. M. Coetzee, Age of Iron, New York: Random House, Chapter 2, p. 80,^[9]

     Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him.

2. To make tranquil.

   Synonyms: calm, soothe, tranquilize

Related terms

• resedate
• sedation
• sedative

Translations

Further reading

• sedate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sedate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sedate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• e-dates, seated, steade, teades, teased

Italian

Verb

sedate

1. second-person plural present indicative of sedare
2. second-person plural imperative of sedare
3. feminine plural of sedato

Latin

Verb

s?d?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of s?d?

References

• sedate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sedate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sedate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

From Middle English important, from Medieval Latin important-, import?ns.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?p??t?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?p??t?nt/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?m?po(?)?t?nt/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?m?po?t?nt/

Adjective

important (comparative more important, superlative most important)

1. Having relevant and crucial value.
   • 1988, Robert Ferro, Second Son:

     For this was the most important thing, that when a person felt strongly about an issue in life, it mustn’t be ignored by others; for if it was, everything subsequent to it would turn out badly, even though there should seem to be no direct connection.
2. (obsolete) Pompous; self-important.

Synonyms

• significant
• weighty
• See also Thesaurus:important

Antonyms

• negligible
• ignorable
• petty
• slight
• unimportant

Derived terms

• importantly, importantness, unimportant, VIP

Related terms

• import
• importance

Translations

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.po??tant/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /im.pur?tan/

Adjective

important (masculine and feminine plural importants)

1. important

Derived terms

• importantment

Related terms

• importància

Further reading

• “important” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “important” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “important” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “important” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.p??.t??/

Adjective

important (feminine singular importante, masculine plural importants, feminine plural importantes)

1. important

2. significant

Derived terms

• importance

Verb

important

1. present participle of importer

Further reading

• “important” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

important

1. third-person plural present active indicative of import?

Occitan

Pronunciation

Adjective

important m (feminine singular importanta, masculine plural importants, feminine plural importantas)

1. important

Related terms

• importància

Romanian

Etymology

From French important.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [im.por?tant]

Adjective

important m or n (feminine singular important?, masculine plural importan?i, feminine and neuter plural importante)

1. important

Declension

Related terms

• importan??