Reference > Usage > The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
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Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–).  The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.  1993.
 
sanction (n., v.)
 
 
The verb means only “to give approval or permission, to support,” although at one time it also meant “to punish.” Today only the noun has both nearly antithetical senses: “approval” and “punishment or penalty.” Both are Standard, and context must distinguish them.  1
 
 
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press.

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