Library / English Dictionary

SANCTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sanction" is a kind of...):

social control (control exerted (actively or passively) by group action)

Derivation:

sanction (give religious sanction to, such as through on oath)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of final authorization

Example:

it had the sanction of the church

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sanction" is a kind of...):

authorisation; authorization; empowerment (the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sanction"):

benefit of clergy (sanction by a religious rite)

name (by the sanction or authority of)

nihil obstat (authoritative approval)

Derivation:

sanction (give authority or permission to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Official permission or approval

Example:

authority for the program was renewed several times

Synonyms:

authorisation; authority; authorization; sanction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("sanction" is a kind of...):

permission (approval to do something)

Derivation:

sanction (give authority or permission to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Formal and explicit approval

Example:

a Democrat usually gets the union's endorsement

Synonyms:

countenance; endorsement; imprimatur; indorsement; sanction; warrant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sanction" is a kind of...):

approval; commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sanction"):

O.K.; OK; okay; okeh; okey (an endorsement)

visa (an endorsement made in a passport that allows the bearer to enter the country issuing it)

nihil obstat (the phrase used by the official censor of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a publication has been examined and contains nothing offensive to the church)

Derivation:

sanction (give sanction to)

sanction (give authority or permission to)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give sanction to

Example:

I approve of his educational policies

Synonyms:

approve; O.K.; okay; sanction

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "sanction" is one way to...):

authorise; authorize; clear; pass (grant authorization or clearance for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sanction"):

sanction (give religious sanction to, such as through on oath)

visa (approve officially)

back; endorse; indorse; plump for; plunk for; support (be behind; approve of)

confirm (support a person for a position)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

sanction (formal and explicit approval)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give religious sanction to, such as through on oath

Example:

sanctify the marriage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "sanction" is one way to...):

approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sanction (a mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Give authority or permission to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "sanction" is one way to...):

authorise; authorize; empower (give or delegate power or authority to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sanction (the act of final authorization)

sanction (official permission or approval)

sanction (formal and explicit approval)

sanctionative (implying sanction or serving to sanction)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It points also to an orthodox burial with proper accompaniment of medical certificate and official sanction.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If it could not be done with Mr. Mills's sanction and concurrence, I besought a clandestine interview in the back kitchen where the Mangle was.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The authors propose that this method could be used by local authorities, so fishermen who catch and commercialize endangered species are sanctioned.

(New way to save endangered sharks – and our seafood, SciDev.Net)

Established by authority or sanction.

(Official, NCI Thesaurus)

He bore it with noble indifference, and she would have imagined that Bingley had received his sanction to be happy, had she not seen his eyes likewise turned towards Mr. Darcy, with an expression of half-laughing alarm.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Maria had destroyed her own character, and he would not, by a vain attempt to restore what never could be restored, by affording his sanction to vice, or in seeking to lessen its disgrace, be anywise accessory to introducing such misery in another man's family as he had known himself.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It will give you a sanction for your existence.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I said this almost involuntarily, and, with as little sanction of free will, my tears gushed out.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

General Tilney was not less sanguine, having already waited on her excellent friends in Pulteney Street, and obtained their sanction of his wishes.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

And I should never have expected you to be lending your sanction to such vanity-baits for poor young ladies.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)