n.
- a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule.
▸
(sanctions)
measures taken by a state to coerce another to conform to an international agreement or norms of conduct.
▸Ethics a consideration operating to enforce obedience to any rule of conduct.
- official permission or approval for an action.
▸official confirmation or ratification of a law.
▸Law, historical a law or decree, especially an ecclesiastical one.
v.
- give official sanction for.
- impose a sanction or penalty on.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from Fr., from L. sanctio(n-), from sancire ‘ratify’.