Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

sanction

Pronunciation: /ˈsaŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n/

Translate sanction | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of sanction

noun

  • 1a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule:a range of sanctions aimed at deterring insider abuse
  • (sanctions) measures taken by a state to coerce another to conform to an international agreement or norms of conduct, typically in the form of restrictions on trade or official sporting participation: the United States had agreed to lift economic sanctions
  • Philosophy a consideration operating to enforce obedience to any rule of conduct.
  • 2 [mass noun] official permission or approval for an action:he appealed to the bishop for his sanction
  • official confirmation or ratification of a law.
  • [count noun] Law, historical a law or decree, especially an ecclesiastical decree.

verb

[with object]
  • 1give official permission or approval for (an action):the scheme was sanctioned by the court
  • 2impose a sanction or penalty on: foreigners in France illegally should be sent home, their employers sanctioned and border controls tightened up

Derivatives

sanctionable

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (as a noun denoting an ecclesiastical decree): from French, from Latin sanctio(n-), from sancire 'ratify'. The verb dates from the late 18th century

sanction in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sanction in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

leporine

/ ˈlepəˌrīn /
adjective
of or resembling a hare or hares …