Definition of "sanction" []

• Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid. See Synonyms at permission. (noun)
• Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom. (noun)
• A consideration, influence, or principle that dictates an ethical choice. (noun)
• A law or decree. (noun)
• The penalty for noncompliance specified in a law or decree. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Whether the sanction is historically regarded as a punishment?"
• "Palin, unlike the author of the above article, probably knows there's more than just the one definition of the word "sanction"."
• "Consequently bogeyman excuses are co-opted to obtain sanction for this unethical abrogation of a natural right even more fundamental than liberty."