sanction

English

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sanction

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French sanction, from Latin sānctiō.

Pronunciation

(without /æ/ raising) IPA^(key): /ˈsæŋkʃən/, [ˈsæŋkʃən] ~ [ˈsæŋkʃn̩]
(/æ/ raising)
- (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən/, [ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən] ~ [ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃn̩]; /ˈsɛ̃ŋkʃən/, [ˈsɛ̃ŋkʃən] ~ [ˈsɛ̃ŋkʃn̩]
  - Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -æŋkʃən
Hyphenation: sanc‧tion

Noun

sanction (countable and uncountable, plural sanctions)

An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
Synonyms: approbation, consent; see also Thesaurus:approval

The whalers had been operating in the contested waters off the island with sanction from the Japanese government.
- 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 306:
  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.
(chiefly in the plural) A penalty, punishment, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.
Synonyms: correction, punishment; boycott, embargo; see also Thesaurus:penalty, Thesaurus:sanction

The United States enacted a new round of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.
A law, treaty, or contract, or a clause within a law, treaty, or contract, specifying any of the above.

Derived terms

Translations

approval, by an authority, that makes something valid

Bulgarian: разреше́ние (bg) n (razrešénie), одобре́ние (bg) n (odobrénie)
Catalan: aprovació (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì), 認可 / 认可 (zh) (rènkě)
Danish: godkendelse c, tilladelse (da) c
Dutch: bekrachtiging (nl) f, erkenning (nl) f, sanctie (nl) f
Esperanto: sankcio (eo)
Finnish: hyväksyntä (fi)
French: approbation (fr) f, validation (fr) f
Georgian: სანქცია (sankcia)
German: Billigung (de) f, Sanktionierung f
Greek: κύρωση (el) f (kýrosi), επικύρωση (el) f (epikýrosi)
Ancient Greek: νεῦμα n (neûma)
Hindi: अनुज्ञप्ति (hi) f (anujñapti), मंजूरी (hi) f (mañjūrī)
Italian: approvazione (it) f, convalida (it) f, ratifica (it) f
Japanese: 承認 (ja) (しょうにん, shōnin), 認可 (ja) (にんか, ninka), 許可 (ja) (きょか, kyoka)
Korean: 승인(承認) (ko) (seung'in), 인가(認可) (ko) (in'ga)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: godkjennelse m, tillatelse (no) m
Persian: تصویب, فرمان : جواز : ضمانت اجرایی قانون : فتوای کلیسایی :تایید رسمی : دارای مجوز قانونی دانستن , ضمانت اجرایی معین کردن
Polish: sankcja (pl) f
Portuguese: sanção (pt) f
Romanian: sancțiune (ro) f, aprobare (ro) f
Russian: са́нкция (ru) f (sánkcija), разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije), одобре́ние (ru) n (odobrénije)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: са̀нкција f

Latin: sànkcija (sh) f
Spanish: autorización (es) f, aprobación (es) f, decreto (es) m
Swahili: kwazo (sw)
Turkish: müeyyide (tr) sg, müeyyideler pl, müeyyidat pl
Ottoman Turkish: تصویب (tasvib)
Ukrainian: са́нкція (uk) f (sánkcija)
Vietnamese: sự phê chuẩn, sự chấp nhận, sự đồng ý

penalty or coercive measure

Albanian: sanksion (sq) m
Arabic: عِقَاب (ar) m (ʕiqāb), إِسْتِحْسَان m (ʔistiḥsān), إِعْتِمَاد m (ʔiʕtimād), عُقُوبَة f (ʕuqūba)
Armenian: պատժամիջոց (hy) (patžamiǰocʻ), սանկցիա (hy) (sankcʻia)
Azerbaijani: sanksiya (az)
Belarusian: са́нкцыя f (sánkcyja)
Bulgarian: са́нкция (bg) f (sánkcija), наказа́ние (bg) n (nakazánie)
Burmese: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: sanció (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 制裁 (zai³ coi⁴)

Mandarin: 制裁 (zh) (zhìcái), 刑罰 / 刑罚 (zh) (xíngfá)
Czech: sankce (cs) f
Danish: sanktion (da) c
Dutch: sanctie (nl) f
Esperanto: sankciumo
Estonian: sanktsioon
Finnish: pakote (fi), sanktio (fi), seuraamus (fi)
French: sanction (fr) f
Georgian: სანქცია (sankcia)
German: Sanktion (de) f
Greek: κύρωση (el) f (kýrosi)
Ancient Greek: κύρωσις f (kúrōsis)
Hebrew: עיצום m (itsúm), עונש (he) m (ónesh), גמול (he) m (gmul), פעולת עונשין f (peulát onshín), סנקציה (he) f (sánktsya)
Hindi: प्रतिबंध (hi) m (pratibandh)
Hungarian: szankció (hu)
Icelandic: refsiaðgerð f
Indonesian: sanksi (id)
Italian: sanzione (it) f
Japanese: 制裁 (ja) (せいさい, seisai), 刑罰 (ja) (けいばつ, keibatsu)
Kazakh: санкция (sankcıya)
Khmer: ទណ្ឌកម្ម (km) (tŏəndĕəʼ kam)
Korean: 제재(制裁) (ko) (jejae), 형벌(刑罰) (hyeongbeol)
Kyrgyz: санкция (ky) (sanktsiya)
Latvian: sankcija f
Lithuanian: sankcija f
Macedonian: санкција f (sankcija)
Malay: sanksi, sekatan (ms)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хориг (mn) (xorig)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sanksjon m
Persian: تحریم (fa) (tahrim)
Polish: sankcja (pl) f
Portuguese: sanção (pt) f
Romanian: sancțiune (ro) f
Russian: са́нкция (ru) f (sánkcija), наказа́ние (ru) n (nakazánije)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: са̀нкција f

Latin: sànkcija (sh) f
Slovak: sankcia f
Slovene: sankcija f
Spanish: sanción (es) f, decreto (es) m
Swahili: kwazo (sw)
Swedish: sanktion (sv) c
Tagalog: sanksiyon, sanksyon
Tajik: муҷозот (mujozot), таҳрим (tahrim)
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Thai: การลงโทษ (th) (gaan-long-tôot)
Turkish: yaptırım (tr)
Turkmen: sanksiýa
Ukrainian: са́нкція (uk) f (sánkcija)
Uzbek: sanksiya (uz)
Vietnamese: hình phạt (vi)
Welsh: sancsiwn (cy) m

stipulation specifying the above

Armenian: պատժամիջոց (hy) (patžamiǰocʻ), սանկցիա (hy) (sankcʻia)
French: décret (fr) m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Sanktionierung f
Japanese: 拘束 (ja) (こうそく, kōsoku)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sanksjon m
Polish: sankcja (pl) f
Portuguese: sanção (pt) f
Russian: са́нкция (ru) f (sánkcija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: са̀нкција f

Latin: sànkcija (sh) f
Swahili: kwazo (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Georgian: ^{(please verify)} სანქცია (sankcia)

Verb

sanction (third-person singular simple present sanctions, present participle sanctioning, simple past and past participle sanctioned)

(transitive) To ratify; to make valid.
(transitive) To give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.
The school's inaction further sanctions this misbehavior.
- 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21:
  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.
(transitive) To penalize (a state etc.) with sanctions.
- 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^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 5 August 2025:
  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.

Derived terms

Translations

to give authorization or approval to

Belarusian: санкцыяні́раваць impf or pf (sankcyjaníravacʹ)
Bulgarian: разрешавам (bg) (razrešavam), одобрявам (bg) (odobrjavam)
Catalan: aprovar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì), 認可 / 认可 (zh) (rènkě)
Esperanto: sankcii (eo)
Finnish: antaa hyväksyntä, hyväksyä (fi)
French: autoriser (fr), ratifier (fr), approuver (fr)
German: sanktionieren (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: δοκιμάζω (dokimázō)
Italian: approvare (it), sancire (it), ratificare (it)
Japanese: 承認する (ja) (しょうにんする, shōnin suru), 認可する (ja) (にんかする, ninka suru), 許可する (ja) (きょかする, kyoka suru)
Norwegian: godkjenne, tillate (no)
Polish: sankcjonować (pl) impf
Portuguese: sancionar (pt)
Russian: санкциони́ровать (ru) impf or pf (sankcionírovatʹ)
Spanish: ratificar (es), autorizar (es), aprobar (es)
Swahili: kwazo (sw)
Ukrainian: санкціонува́ти impf or pf (sankcionuváty)
Vietnamese: phê chuẩn (vi), chấp nhận (vi), đồng ý (vi)

to penalize a state, especially for violating international law

Bulgarian: санкционирам (bg) (sankcioniram), наказвам (bg) (nakazvam)
Catalan: sancionar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 制裁 (zh) (zhìcái)
Dutch: sanctie (nl) f
Esperanto: sankciumi
Finnish: sanktioida (fi)
French: sanctionner (fr)
German: sanktionieren (de)
Italian: sanzionare (it)
Japanese: 制裁を加える (ja) (せいさいをくわえる, sēsai o kuwaeru)
Norwegian: sanksjonere, straffe (no)
Persian: تحریم (fa) (tahrim)
Polish: nakładać sankcje impf
Portuguese: sancionar (pt)
Russian: применя́ть са́нкции impf (primenjátʹ sánkcii) (про́тив + genitive case)
Spanish: sancionar (es), empurar (es)
Swahili: kwazo (sw)
Swedish: sanktionera (sv)
Thai: ลงโทษ (th) (long-tôot)
Vietnamese: phạt (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} sanksi (id)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} sancionar (es)

References

James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Sanction”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VIII, Part 2 (S–Sh), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 82, column 1.