sanctioning

2. Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom.
3. A consideration, influence, or principle that dictates an ethical choice.
4.
a. The penalty for noncompliance with a law or legal order.
b. A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure compliance with a social standard or norm.
c. A coercive measure adopted usually by several nations acting together against a nation violating international law.
tr. v. sanc�tioned, sanc�tion�ing, sanc�tions
1. To give official authorization or approval to: voting rights that are sanctioned by law.
2. To encourage or tolerate by indicating approval: His colleagues sanctioned his new research.
3. To penalize, as for violating a moral principle or international law: "Half of the public defenders of accused murderers were sanctioned by the Texas bar for legal misbehavior or incompetence" ( Garry Wills ) .
[Middle English, enactment of a law, from Old French, ecclesiastical decree, from Latin sānctiō, sānctiōn - , binding law, penal sanction, from sānctus, holy; see sanctify. ]
sanc′tion�a�ble adj.
Word History: Occasionally, a word can have contradictory meanings. Such a case is represented by sanction, which can mean both "to allow, encourage" and "to punish so as to deter.