noun. Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid. synonym: permission.

noun. Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom.

noun. A consideration, influence, or principle that dictates an ethical choice.

noun. undefined

noun. The penalty for noncompliance with a law or legal order.

noun. A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure compliance with a social standard or norm.

noun. A coercive measure adopted usually by several nations acting together against a nation violating international law.

transitive verb. To give official authorization or approval to.

transitive verb. To encourage or tolerate by indicating approval.

transitive verb. To penalize, as for violating a moral principle or international law.

To give authoritative permission or approval to: ratify; confirm; invest with validity or authority.

To give countenance or support to; approve.

Synonyms Allow, Permit, etc. See allow.

noun. The act of making sacred; the act of rendering authoritative as law; the act of decreeing or ratifying; the act of making binding, as by an oath.

noun. A decree; an ordinance; a law: as, the pragmatic sanction.

noun. The conferring of authority upon an opinion, practice, or sentiment; confirmation or support derived from public approval, from exalted testimony, or from the countenance of a person or body commanding respect.

noun. A provision of a law which enforces obedience by the enactment of rewards or penalties, called respectively remuneratory and punitive sanctions; hence, in utilitarian ethics, the knowledge of the pleasurable or painful consequences of an act, as making it moral or immoral.

noun. Synonyms and Authorization, countenance, support, warrant.

noun. Solemn or ceremonious ratification; an official act of a superior by which he ratifies and gives validity to the act of some other person or body; establishment or furtherance of anything by giving authority to it; confirmation; approbation.

noun. Anything done or said to enforce the will, law, or authority of another.

transitive verb. To give sanction to; to ratify; to confirm; to approve.

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

noun. A penalty, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.

noun. A law, treaty, or contract, or a clause within a law, treaty, or contract, specifying the above.

verb. To ratify; to make valid.

verb. To give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.

verb. To penalize (a State etc.) with sanctions.

verb. give religious sanction to, such as through on oath

noun. a mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards

noun. the act of final authorization

verb. give authority or permission to

noun. official permission or approval

noun. formal and explicit approval

verb. give sanction to

"Whether the sanction is historically regarded as a punishment?"

external sanction  internal sanction  legal sanction  moral sanction  physical sanction  

OK  approve  authorise  authorize  empower  

approbation  assistance  authority  condemnation  consent  

John Hancock  OK  accede to  accept  acceptance  

sanctioned  sanctioning  sanctions