One of the first questions people ask when they get a camera with any sort of manual controls is "What is Aperture?".
Like many things, there's a simple, literal answer, or there's a more complex but useful answer. I'll try to cover both here.
The simple, literal answer is that Aperture is the size of the hole in the lens through which the light travels on the way to the sensor (or film - if I say 'sensor', the same applies typically on a film based camera). A bigger aperture will let through more light than a smaller aperture.
Think about water flowing through a pipe - if it's a very thin pipe (small aperture), you can't get as much water (light) through the pipe.
Aperture therefore plays a critical part in determining how much light hits your sensor, and since photography is all about capturing light, it's important.
More after the break...
If you have a small aperture, all other things being equal, you'll get less light on your sensor. A large aperture, all other things being equal, will allow more light to hit the sensor. So if you're outside taking pictures on a sunny day, you could use a small aperture, and if you're indoors shooting in a party, you could use a larger aperture.
But it does more than control the quantity of light hitting the sensor - it has a lot to do with the quality of that light too. This is where things get a little more complex, and physics (specifically optical physics) comes into play.
People often say to me: "You know about cameras..." It sounds almost accusatory, but it's normally followed by a sensible question. I figured I'd write these questions down, and give the answers I give, so that next time someone says to you "You know about cameras...", you can point them here :)
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