noun / verb
sanction
SANGK-shun/ˈsæŋkʃn/
An official penalty or restriction, or the act of imposing it.
The referee imposes a sanction by showing the player a red card.
Etymology
From the act of decreeing or ratifying, sanction came to mean a law or decree. It then named a penalty established by law to enforce obedience—the basis of the selected meaning.
In context
punishable Disobedience and this gives rise to the establishment of criminal laws which at bottom are not so much a particular species of laws as the sanction of all the others
More examples
- The court sanctions attorneys who repeatedly ignore its orders.
- Trade sanctions prevent the country from importing certain goods.
- Regulators can sanction a bank by imposing a large fine.
Forms
sanction · sanctions · sanctioned · sanctioning
Similar words
- penalty
- Names a punishment, without emphasizing the authority imposing it.
- restriction
- Limits what is allowed, but need not punish wrongdoing.
- penalize
- Means to punish, without necessarily imposing an official restriction.