Thursday 27 September 2012

Sanction correct here "autoantonym"



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How/why does the word "sanction" have two opposite meanings?

1. to approve of, allow AND
2. to require that someone/something stop a particular activity

I don't know why, but this really irks me! Is anyone else annoyed by this? (clearly I'm easily annoyed!)
Asked by NobuGlimmer 47 months ago
 

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Answer from PamPerdue
2 people found this helpful

Autoantonyms


It's called an "autoantonym".  There are a number of examples, including "cleave", meaning both "stuck to" and "separate".  It often occurs when a word starts meaning something neutral but is later applied in two opposite contexts.

"Sanction" has a rather interesting history.  The original root conveyed neither approval nor disapproval, but "holiness".  It's related to "sanctity".

Words tend to drift in meaning over time, and from "holiness", the word took on the connotation of "legal force".  That legal force can be applied either to require things or to disallow them.

This sort of thing happens all the time in language.  The word "host", for example, can mean either "somebody who welcomes you" or "an army".  ("Host" as "army" is relatively rare, but "hostile" is related and quite common.)  The original Latin word "hostis" meant neither, it simply meant "stranger".  And you can see how "stranger" could take on both positive and negative connotations. 

Oddly, the same word "hostis" also gave rise to the English word "guest", exactly the opposite of "host".

So basically, what has happened that we start with a neutral word, then move on to apply both negative and positive connotations to it in different contexts.  Eventually, the word ends up taking on both connotations, effectively meaning the opposite. 
PamPerdue 47 months ago
 

Answer from newbie2659425
1 people found this helpful

It doesn't really mean to approve, just that its legal.


According to the OED, the noun sanction means a law or decree. It originally meant an ecclesiastical law (so only the Church was sanctioning anything) but that got lost. When you sanction (verb) something you are applying the law and investing that decision with authority. So sanctioning something "legal" looks like approval, but sanctioning something "illegal" looks like disapproval.
Sources: OED online
newbie2659425 47 months ago
 

 

Comments on this question:

Predator said:
1
Nope.

47 months ago
 

 
BarbieM said:
2
That's just one of the many joys of the English language. Look at the word cleave for example. It means both to adhere to and to separate. How's that for confusing?

47 months ago
 

 
3
I'm with you on this one Nobu. Let's drop one meaning and stop the madness! I'll sanction that idea if askville doesn't impose sanctions against us...how stupid does that sound?

47 months ago
 

 
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