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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sanction.

An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsæŋkʃən/[ˈsæŋkʃən] ~ [ˈsæŋkʃn̩]/ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən/Canada, US[ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən] ~ [ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃn̩]Canada, US
  1. An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.

    countable · uncountable
    The whalers had been operating in the contested waters off the island with sanction from the Japanese government.
  2. A penalty, punishment, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
    The United States enacted a new round of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.
  3. A law, treaty, or contract, or a clause within a law, treaty, or contract, specifying any of the above.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle French sanction, from Latin sānctiō.

verb/ˈsæŋkʃən/[ˈsæŋkʃən] ~ [ˈsæŋkʃn̩]/ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən/Canada, US[ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən] ~ [ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃn̩]Canada, US
  1. To ratify; to make valid.

    transitive
  2. To give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.

    transitive
  3. To penalize (a state etc.) with sanctions.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle French sanction, from Latin sānctiō.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.