sanction

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sanction/ˈsaŋkʃn/

▶noun

• 1 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.

• 2 official permission or approval for an action.

  ■ official confirmation or ratification of a law.

  ■ Law, historical a law or decree, especially an ecclesiastical one.

▶verb

• 1 give official sanction for.

• 2 impose a sanction or penalty on.

– derivatives
sanctionable adjective.

– origin ME: from Fr., from L. sanctio(n-), from sancire ‘ratify’.