Meanings
nounsanction (countable and uncountable, plural sanctions)
plural sanctions
- countableuncountableAn approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
The whalers had been operating in the contested waters off the island with sanction from the Japanese government.
1 more example
The idea that it was more comfortable in the house than out of it, did much towards reconciling his lordship. He felt positively glad that, as his wife had acted without his sanction, she should be subject to all possible inconvenience, as if such could be felt in Henrietta's state of mind.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Truth of Presentiments”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 306Synonyms: approbation, consent, accedence, accession, allowance, approbation, approval, assent
- countablein pluraluncountableA penalty, punishment, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.
The United States enacted a new round of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.
Synonyms: correction, punishment, boycott, embargo, censure, correction, discipline, penalty
verbsanction (third-person singular simple present sanctions, present participle sanctioning, simple past and past participle sanctioned)
present singular third person sanctions · participle present sanctioning · participle past sanctioned · past sanctioned
- transitiveTo give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.
The school's inaction further sanctions this misbehavior.
1 more example
Many of the most earnest Protestants were business men, to whom lending money at interest was essential. Consequently first Calvin, and then other Protestant divines, sanctioned interest.
1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21 - transitiveTo penalize (a state etc.) with sanctions.
The generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can be duped into providing detailed advice on how to commit crimes — ranging from money laundering to the export of weapons to sanctioned countries — a tech startup found.
2024 October 23, Tricia Escobedo, “AI-generated crimes, a treasure mystery, quick thinking by bus passengers: Catch up on the day’s stories”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
nounA penalty, punishment, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.
Broader
More synonyms by meaning
nounformal and explicit approval
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsānctiō
- Middle Frenchsanction
- Englishsanction
From Middle French sanction, from Latin sānctiō.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νεῦμα, κύρωσις
- νεῦμα (neûma)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- κύρωσις (kúrōsis)penalty or coercive measure
- δοκιμάζω (dokimázō)to give authorization or approval to
Arabic عِقَاب, إِسْتِحْسَان
- عِقَاب (ʕiqāb)penalty or coercive measure
- إِسْتِحْسَان (ʔistiḥsān)penalty or coercive measure
- إِعْتِمَاد (ʔiʕtimād)penalty or coercive measure
- عُقُوبَة (ʕuqūba)penalty or coercive measure
Bulgarian разреше́ние, одобре́ние
- разреше́ние (razrešénie)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- одобре́ние (odobrénie)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- са́нкция (sánkcija)penalty or coercive measure
- наказа́ние (nakazánie)penalty or coercive measure
- разрешавам (razrešavam)to give authorization or approval to
- одобрявам (odobrjavam)to give authorization or approval to
- санкционирам (sankcioniram)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
- наказвам (nakazvam)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Catalan aprovació, sanció
- aprovacióapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanciópenalty or coercive measure
- aprovarto give authorization or approval to
- sancionarto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Chinese Cantonese 制裁
- 制裁 (zai³ coi⁴)penalty or coercive measure
Chinese Mandarin 批准, 同意
- 批准 (pīzhǔn)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 同意 (tóngyì)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 認可 /认可 (rènkě)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 制裁 (zhìcái)penalty or coercive measure
- 刑罰 /刑罚 (xíngfá)penalty or coercive measure
- 批准 (pīzhǔn)to give authorization or approval to
- 同意 (tóngyì)to give authorization or approval to
- 認可 /认可 (rènkě)to give authorization or approval to
- 制裁 (zhìcái)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Czech sankce
- sankcepenalty or coercive measure
Danish godkendelse, tilladelse
- godkendelseapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- tilladelseapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanktionpenalty or coercive measure
Dutch bekrachtiging, erkenning
- bekrachtigingapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- erkenningapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanctieapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanctiepenalty or coercive measure
- sanctieto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Esperanto sankcio, sankciumo
- sankcioapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sankciumopenalty or coercive measure
- sankciito give authorization or approval to
- sankciumito penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Estonian sanktsioon
- sanktsioonpenalty or coercive measure
Finnish hyväksyntä, pakote
- hyväksyntäapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- pakotepenalty or coercive measure
- sanktiopenalty or coercive measure
- seuraamuspenalty or coercive measure
- antaa hyväksyntäto give authorization or approval to
- hyväksyäto give authorization or approval to
- sanktioidato penalize a state, especially for violating international law
French approbation, validation
- approbationapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- validationapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanctionpenalty or coercive measure
- décretstipulation specifying the above
- autoriserto give authorization or approval to
- ratifierto give authorization or approval to
- approuverto give authorization or approval to
- sanctionnerto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
German Billigung, Sanktionierung
- Billigungapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- Sanktionierungapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- Sanktionpenalty or coercive measure
- Sanktionierungstipulation specifying the above
- sanktionierento give authorization or approval to
- sanktionierento penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Greek κύρωση, επικύρωση
- κύρωση (kýrosi)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- επικύρωση (epikýrosi)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- κύρωση (kýrosi)penalty or coercive measure
Hebrew עיצום, עונש
- עיצום (itsúm)penalty or coercive measure
- עונש (ónesh)penalty or coercive measure
- גמול (gmul)penalty or coercive measure
- פעולת עונשין (peulát onshín)penalty or coercive measure
- סנקציה (sánktsya)penalty or coercive measure
Hindi अनुज्ञप्ति, मंजूरी
- अनुज्ञप्ति (anujñapti)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- मंजूरी (mañjūrī)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- प्रतिबंध (pratibandh)penalty or coercive measure
Hungarian szankció
- szankciópenalty or coercive measure
Icelandic refsiaðgerð
- refsiaðgerðpenalty or coercive measure
Indonesian sanksi
- sanksipenalty or coercive measure
Italian approvazione, convalida
- approvazioneapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- convalidaapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- ratificaapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanzionepenalty or coercive measure
- approvareto give authorization or approval to
- sancireto give authorization or approval to
- ratificareto give authorization or approval to
- sanzionareto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Japanese 承認, 認可
- 承認 (shōnin)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 認可 (ninka)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 許可 (kyoka)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 制裁 (seisai)penalty or coercive measure
- 刑罰 (keibatsu)penalty or coercive measure
- 拘束 (kōsoku)stipulation specifying the above
- 承認する (shōnin suru)to give authorization or approval to
- 認可する (ninka suru)to give authorization or approval to
- 許可する (kyoka suru)to give authorization or approval to
- 制裁を加える (sēsai o kuwaeru)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Korean 승인, 인가
- 승인 (seung'in)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 인가 (in'ga)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- 제재 (jejae)penalty or coercive measure
- 형벌 (hyeongbeol)penalty or coercive measure
Latvian sankcija
- sankcijapenalty or coercive measure
Lithuanian sankcija
- sankcijapenalty or coercive measure
Malay sanksi, sekatan
- sanksipenalty or coercive measure
- sekatanpenalty or coercive measure
Norwegian godkjenne, tillate
- godkjenneto give authorization or approval to
- tillateto give authorization or approval to
- sanksjonereto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
- straffeto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Norwegian Bokmål godkjennelse, tillatelse
- godkjennelseapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- tillatelseapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanksjonpenalty or coercive measure
- sanksjonstipulation specifying the above
Persian تحریم, تحریم
- تحریم (tahrim)penalty or coercive measure
- تحریم (tahrim)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Polish sankcja, sankcja
- sankcjaapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sankcjapenalty or coercive measure
- sankcjastipulation specifying the above
- sankcjonowaćto give authorization or approval to
- nakładać sankcjeto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Portuguese sanção, sanção
- sançãoapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sançãopenalty or coercive measure
- sançãostipulation specifying the above
- sancionarto give authorization or approval to
- sancionarto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Romanian sancțiune, aprobare
- sancțiuneapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- aprobareapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sancțiunepenalty or coercive measure
Russian са́нкция, разреше́ние
- са́нкция (sánkcija)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- разреше́ние (razrešénije)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- одобре́ние (odobrénije)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- са́нкция (sánkcija)penalty or coercive measure
- наказа́ние (nakazánije)penalty or coercive measure
- са́нкция (sánkcija)stipulation specifying the above
- санкциони́ровать (sankcionírovatʹ)to give authorization or approval to
Slovak sankcia
- sankciapenalty or coercive measure
Spanish autorización, aprobación
- autorizaciónapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- aprobaciónapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- decretoapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sanciónpenalty or coercive measure
- decretopenalty or coercive measure
- ratificarto give authorization or approval to
- autorizarto give authorization or approval to
- aprobarto give authorization or approval to
- sancionarto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
- empurarto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Swahili kwazo, kwazo
- kwazoapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- kwazopenalty or coercive measure
- kwazostipulation specifying the above
- kwazoto give authorization or approval to
- kwazoto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Swedish sanktion, sanktionera
- sanktionpenalty or coercive measure
- sanktionerato penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Tagalog sanksiyon, sanksyon
- sanksiyonpenalty or coercive measure
- sanksyonpenalty or coercive measure
Thai การลงโทษ, ลงโทษ
- การลงโทษ (gaan-long-tôot)penalty or coercive measure
- ลงโทษ (long-tôot)to penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Turkish müeyyide, müeyyideler
- müeyyideapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- müeyyidelerapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- müeyyidatapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- yaptırımpenalty or coercive measure
Ukrainian са́нкція, са́нкція
- са́нкція (sánkcija)approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- са́нкція (sánkcija)penalty or coercive measure
- санкціонува́ти (sankcionuváty)to give authorization or approval to
Vietnamese sự phê chuẩn, sự chấp nhận
- sự phê chuẩnapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sự chấp nhậnapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- sự đồng ýapproval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- hình phạtpenalty or coercive measure
- phê chuẩnto give authorization or approval to
- chấp nhậnto give authorization or approval to
- đồng ýto give authorization or approval to
- phạtto penalize a state, especially for violating international law
Welsh sancsiwn
- sancsiwnpenalty or coercive measure
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
sanction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sanction
MLA
“sanction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sanction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sanction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sanction.
Source: sanction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.