lexicow

sanction

/ˈsæŋkʃən//ˈsæŋkʃən/·noun & verb
I watch a robed judge bring a stamp down on one page — a clean tick — and wave it on through. Another page slides up; the hand hovers, weighing it, and the same stamp falls again, this time a hard barred mark, and that one is sent straight back. One bench, one hand. It can open the door for you or bar it, and I never know which until it lands.
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Definition

Sanction is a famously two-faced word: it can mean official permission to do something, or an official penalty for doing something wrong. Both senses come from Latin sancire, 'to make binding', and that is the thread — an authority makes its will binding, whether by approving an act or by punishing one. As a verb it usually means to approve ('the board sanctioned the plan'); as a plural noun it usually means penalties ('trade sanctions'). Context, and grammatical number, tell you which face you are seeing.

Examples

  • Once the committee sanctions the budget, the project can finally begin.
  • The new measures are designed to deter the regime and will not be lifted easily.
  • International sanctions restrict what the country is allowed to buy and sell abroad.

Collocations

impose sanctions·economic sanctions·lift sanctions·officially sanction·sanction a plan

Synonyms

approve·authorize·endorse·penalty·embargo

Antonyms

ban·prohibit·veto

Word family

sanctioned (adjective)·sanctioning (noun)

In TOEFL & IELTS

A genuine contranym and a favourite trap: the verb tends to mean 'approve', while the plural noun 'sanctions' almost always means 'penalties'. Learn it through collocations — impose / lift / tighten sanctions for the penalty sense, 'officially sanction' for the approval sense. Very common in IELTS reading on international relations and law; let the surrounding words disambiguate it.