sanction

English

Etymology

From Middle French sanction, from Latin sanctio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsæŋkʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋkʃən

Noun

sanction (countable and uncountable, plural sanctions)

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

   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.

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

   The United States enacted a new round of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.

3. A law, treaty, or contract, or a clause within a law, treaty, or contract, specifying any of the above.

Derived terms

• pragmatic sanction
• secondary sanction

Translations

approval, by an authority, that makes something valid

• Bulgarian: разреше́ние (bg) n (razrešénie), одобре́ние (bg) n (odobrénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì), 認可／认可 (zh) (rènkě)

• Dutch: strafmaatregel (nl) m
• 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: 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

• 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

  Roman: sànkcija (sh) f

• Spanish: autorización (es) f, aprobación (es) f, decreto (es) m
• Swahili: kwazo (sw)
• Turkish: müeyyide (tr) sg, müeyyideler pl, müeyyidat pl
• 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
• Belarusian: са́нкцыя f (sánkcyja)
• Bulgarian: са́нкция (bg) f (sánkcija), наказа́ние (bg) n (nakazánie)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• 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: please add this translation if you can
• 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: 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: please add this translation if you can
• 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 (sanksiä)
• 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

  Roman: 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
• 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

  Roman: 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)

1. (transitive) To ratify; to make valid.
3. (transitive) To give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.
   • 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.

5. (transitive) To penalize (a state etc.) with sanctions.

Translations

to give authorization or approval to

• Belarusian: санкцыяні́раваць impf or pf (sankcyjaníravacʹ)
• Bulgarian: разрешавам (bg) (razrešavam), одобрявам (bg) (odobrjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì), 認可／认可 (zh) (rènkě)

• Finnish: antaa hyväksyntä, hyväksyä (fi)
• French: autoriser (fr), ratifier (fr), approuver (fr)
• German: sanktionieren (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: 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)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: sanctie (nl) f
• 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.

Anagrams

• actinons, canonist, cantions, contains

French

Etymology

From Latin sanctiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

sanction f (plural sanctions)

1. sanction

Further reading

• “sanction”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.