ETYM Latin sanctio, from sancire, sanctum to render sacred or inviolable, to fix unalterably: cf. French sanction. Related to Saint.
1. A mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards.
2. Formal and explicit approval; SYN. countenance, endorsement, warrant, imprimatur.
3. The act of final authorization; SYN. authority.
Ratification; permission; penalty incurred or reward lost by breaking law.
Economic or military measure taken by a state or number of states to enforce international law. The first use of sanctions was the attempted economic boycott of Italy 1935–36 during the Abyssinian War by the League of Nations.
Other examples of sanctions are the economic boycott of Rhodesia, after its unilateral declaration of independence 1965, by the United Nations (un); measures taken against South Africa on human-rights grounds by the un and other organizations from 1986 (the majority of these were repealed 1993); and the economic boycott of Iraq 1990 in protest over its invasion of Kuwait, following resolutions passed by the un.

To give authority or permission to.