sanction
- authoritative permission or approval, as for an action.
- something that serves to support an action, condition, etc.
- something that gives binding force, as to an oath, rule of conduct, etc.
- Law.
- a provision of a law enacting a penalty for disobedience or a reward for obedience.
- the penalty or reward.
- International Law. action by one or more states toward another state calculated to force it to comply with legal obligations.
- to authorize, approve, or allow: an expression now sanctioned by educated usage.
- to ratify or confirm: to sanction a law.
- to impose a sanction on; penalize, especially by way of discipline.
Origin of sanction
Synonyms for sanction
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms for sanction
Related Words for sanctioned
permitted, accepted, approved, licensed, allowed, warranted, confirmed, accredited, empowered, okayedExamples from the Web for sanctioned
Contemporary Examples of sanctioned
The Moscow protest was not sanctioned, which meant every participant risked arrest.
Before Cuba was shunned and sanctioned, it was a handy place for the randy.
In FDA sanctioned studies using MDMA-assisted therapy to treat veterans with PTSD, the success rate has been astounding.
But in federal court, if you pursue an “objectively baseless” claim, you can be sanctioned by the court (PDF) under Rule 11.
Cardin said Tuesday he was not sure yet if Bastrykin was sanctioned secretly by the administration.
Historical Examples of sanctioned
If his accession had seemed even a likely thing at the time, it would not have been sanctioned.
The AvengerE. Phillips Oppenheim
Some of the most flagrant of these, if not encouraged, have at least been sanctioned by the whites.
Chronicles of Border WarfareAlexander Scott Withers
They were sanctioned by the authority of heaven, and it was deemed impiety to alter them.
The RepublicPlato
How could anything that was wrong be sanctioned by the gods?
Lotus BudsAmy Carmichael
Its publication we may be sure would never have been sanctioned by Johnson.
James BoswellWilliam Keith Leask
sanction
- final permission; authorization
- aid or encouragement
- something, such as an ethical principle, that imparts binding force to a rule, oath, etc
- the penalty laid down in a law for contravention of its provisions
- (often plural) a coercive measure, esp one taken by one or more states against another guilty of violating international law
- to give authority to; permit
- to make authorized; confirm
Word Origin for sanction
Word Origin and History for sanctioned
sanction
early 15c., "confirmation or enactment of a law," from Latin sanctionem (nominative sanctio) "act of decreeing or ordaining," also "decree, ordinance," noun of action from past participle stem of sancire "to decree, confirm, ratify, make sacred" (see saint (n.)). Originally especially of ecclesiastical decrees.
sanction
1778, "confirm by sanction, make valid or binding;" 1797 as "to permit authoritatively;" from sanction (n.). Seemingly contradictory meaning "impose a penalty on" is from 1956 but is rooted in an old legalistic sense of the noun. Related: Sanctioned; sanctioning.