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sanction - 8 dictionary results
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sanc⋅tion

  [sangk-shuhn]
Use sanction in a Sentence
–noun
1. authoritative permission or approval, as for an action.
2. something that serves to support an action, condition, etc.
3. something that gives binding force, as to an oath, rule of conduct, etc.
4. Law.
a. a provision of a law enacting a penalty for disobedience or a reward for obedience.
b. the penalty or reward.
5. International Law. action by one or more states toward another state calculated to force it to comply with legal obligations.
–verb (used with object)
6. to authorize, approve, or allow: an expression now sanctioned by educated usage.
7. to ratify or confirm: to sanction a law.
8. to impose a sanction on; penalize, esp. by way of discipline.
Origin:
1555–65; < L sānctiōn- (s. of sānctiō), equiv. to sānct(us) (ptp. of sancīre to prescribe by law) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
sanc⋅tion⋅a⋅ble, adjective
sanc⋅tion⋅a⋅tive, adjective
sanc⋅tion⋅er, noun
sanc⋅tion⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
6. permit.

Antonyms:
1. disapproval. 6. disapprove.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sanc·tion   (sāngk'shən)   
n.  
  1. Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid. See Synonyms at permission.
  2. Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom.
  3. A consideration, influence, or principle that dictates an ethical choice.
    1. A law or decree.
    2. The penalty for noncompliance specified in a law or decree.
  5. A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure compliance or conformity.
  6. A coercive measure adopted usually by several nations acting together against a nation violating international law.
tr.v.   sanc·tioned, sanc·tion·ing, sanc·tions
  1. To give official authorization or approval to: "The president, we are told, has sanctioned greed at the cost of compassion" (David Rankin).
  2. To encourage or tolerate by indicating approval. See Synonyms at approve.
  3. To penalize, especially for violating a moral principle or international law.

[Middle English, enactment of a law, from Old French, ecclesiastical decree, from Latin sānctiō, sānctiōn-, binding law, penal sanction, from sānctus, holy; see sanctify.]
sanc'tion·a·ble adj.
Word History: Occasionally, a word can have contradictory meanings. Such a case is represented by sanction, which can mean both "to allow, encourage" and "to punish so as to deter." It is a borrowing from the Latin word sānctiō, meaning "a law or decree that is sacred or inviolable." In English, the word is first recorded in the mid-1500s in the meaning "law, decree," but not long after, in about 1635, it refers to "the penalty enacted to cause one to obey a law or decree." Thus from the beginning two fundamental notions of law were wrapped up in it: law as something that permits or approves and law that forbids by punishing. From the noun, a verb sanction was created in the 18th century meaning "to allow by law," but it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that it began to mean "to punish (for breaking a law)." English has a few other words that can refer to opposites, such as the verbs dust (meaning both "to remove dust from" and "to put dust on") and trim (meaning both "to cut something away" and "to add something as an ornament").
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sanction

Sanc"tion\, n. [L. sanctio, from sancire, sanctum to render sacred or inviolable, to fix unalterably: cf. F. sanction. See Saint.]

1. Solemn or ceremonious ratification; an official act of a superior by which he ratifies and gives validity to the act of some other person or body; establishment or furtherance of anything by giving authority to it; confirmation; approbation.

The strictest professors of reason have added the sanction of their testimony. --I. Watts.

2. Anything done or said to enforce the will, law, or authority of another; as, legal sanctions.

Syn: Ratification; authorization; authority; countenance; support.

Sanction

Sanc"tion\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sanctioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Sanctioning.] To give sanction to; to ratify; to confirm; to approve.

Would have counseled, or even sanctioned, such perilous experiments. --De Quincey.

Syn: To ratify; confirm; authorize; countenance.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sanction
Spanish: sanción, autorización, permiso,
German: die Billigung,
Japanese: 承認
More Translations »

sanction  (n.)
1563, "confirmation or enactment of a law," from L. sanctionem (nom. sanctio) "act of decreeing or ordaining," also "decree, ordinance," from sanctus, pp. of sancire "to decree, confirm, ratify, make sacred" (see saint). Originally especially of ecclesiastical decrees. The verb sense of "to permit authoritatively" is from 1797. Sanctions, in international diplomacy, first recorded 1919, from sanction (n.) in the sense of "part or clause of a law which spells out the penalty for breaking it" (1651).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sanc·tion
Pronunciation: 'sa[ng]k-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : a punitive or coercive measure or action that results from failure to comply with a law, rule, or order sanction for contempt>
2 : explicit or official approval
3 : an economic or military coercive measure adopted usually by several nations in concert for forcing a nation violating international law to desist or yield to adjudication

Main Entry: sanction
Function: transitive verb
1 : to give official approval or consent to : RATIFY
2 : to impose a sanction on <sanctioned the lawyer for professional misconduct>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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sanction

in the social sciences, a reaction (or the threat or promise of a reaction) by members of a social group indicating approval or disapproval of a mode of conduct and serving to enforce behavioral standards of the group. Punishment (negative sanction) and reward (positive sanction) regulate conduct in conformity with social norms (see norm). Sanctions may be diffuse-i.e., spontaneous expressions by members of the group acting as individuals-or they may be organized-i.e., actions that follow traditional and recognized procedures. Sanctions therefore include not only the organized punishments of law but also the formal rewards (e.g., honours and titles) and the informal scorn or esteem by members of a community

Learn more about sanction with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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