Word for the day #1 SANCTION dictionary wrong!

I guess the on - line dictionary is wrong!

GS
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sanction?s=t

sanc·tion

   [sangk-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

authoritative permission or approval, as for an action.

2.

something that serves to support an action, condition, etc.

3.

something that gives binding force, as to an oath, rule ofconduct, etc.

4.

Law .

a.

a provision of a law enacting a penalty for disobedienceor a reward for obedience.

b.

the penalty or reward.

5.

International Law . action by one or more states toward another state calculated to force it to comply with legal obligations.

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1. Auto-antonym - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym

   It is a word with multiple meanings, one of which is defined as the reverse of one of its... i.e., distinct words with different etymology which happen to have the same form. ...where a single word acquires different, and ultimately opposite, senses. ... Other examples include sanction — "permit" or "penalize"; bolt (originally from ...
2. How/why does the word "sanction" have two opposite meanings?

   askville.amazon.com/word-sanction-opposite-me... - United States

   5 answers

   1. to approve of, allow AND 2. to require that someone/something stop a ... It's called an "autoantonym". There are a number of examples, including "cleave", ...
3. Janus Words: “Sanction” - Grammar Girl - Quick and Dirty Tips

   grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/sanction-cleave.aspx

   10 May 2012 – Janus words like “sanction” and “cleave” (also called contranyms or autoantonyms) have opposite meanings, so your context matters more than ...

4. sanction - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

   www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sanction

   Definition of sanction : Sanction has two nearly opposite meanings: to ... Very confusing––the person who invented this word should be publicly sanctioned!
5. etymology - How did 'sanction' come to have two opposite meanings ...

   english.stackexchange.com/.../how-did-sanction-come-to-have...

   18 Nov 2011 – How did 'sanction' come to have two opposite meanings? ... havestrong opposing meanings or connotations like our modern word sanction?
6. How/why does the word "sanction" have two opposite meanings ...

   answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid... - United States

   8 answers - 19 Jan 2010

   Top answer: 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 ...
7. One Word, Two Opposite Meanings: Terms That Janus Would Have ...

   learningenglish.voanews.com/content/a-23.../117546.html

   3 Nov 2009 – RS:We are talking about a word that has developed two opposite meanings, ... And we have some words that have more than a hundred meanings. ...And when there is a sanction or you're sanctioning someone, are you ...
8. Why do some words have two opposite meanings? | OxfordWords blog

   blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/contronyms/

   12 Jun 2012 – Why do some words have two opposite meanings? Single words that have two contradictory meanings are known as contronyms. The number ...
9. Careful, writers! 10 common words with opposite meanings - PR Daily

   www.prdaily.com/.../Careful_writers_10_common_words_wit...

   10 Nov 2011 – They're called contranyms, or Janus words, and if you're not careful they can alter the ... or words that are spelled the same, but have two opposite meanings.... Example: You are hereby sanctioned from writing for any of our ...

sanc·tion

   [sangk-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

authoritative permission or approval, as for an action.

2.

something that serves to support an action, condition, etc.

3.

something that gives binding force, as to an oath, rule ofconduct, etc.

4.

Law .

a.

a provision of a law enacting a penalty for disobedienceor a reward for obedience.

b.

the penalty or reward.

5.

International Law . action by one or more states towardanother state calculated to force it to comply with legalobligations.

Relevant Questions

What Is the Meaning of E...

What Does the Word Sanct...

What Are Sanctions?

What Is A Sanction?

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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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Answers

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

dougiedoggone said:

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?