sanction

\sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\

/\sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“sanction” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #6,439. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,439
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acte par lequel le souverain, le chef du pouvoir exécutif donne à une loi l’approbation, la confirmation qui la rend exécutoire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-sanction · sanction · French

sanction · rank #6,439 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,439
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH sacrifice

Nearest frequency peer: sacrifice (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « sanction »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « sanction » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sanction vs section
75% similar
sanction vs sanctions
89% similar
sanction vs sanctionné
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sanction
PropertyValue
Headwordsanction
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,439
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « sanction »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).sanctionse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « sacrifice » (#6,438), « rocher » (#6,437), « simplicité » (#6,441). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « sanction » est au #6,439. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around sanction (IPA \sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,439 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for sanction, with forms such as "asnction", "sacntion", and "sancction". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "section", "sanctions", "sanctionné", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is sanction, spelled S-A-N-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acte par lequel le souverain, le chef du pouvoir exécutif donne à une loi l’approbation, la confirmation qui la rend exécutoire.
  2. 2
    Acte d'une autorité sur une situation légale.
  3. 3
    Approbation que l’on donne à une chose.
  4. 4
    Peine ou récompense prévues pour assurer l’exécution d’une loi.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sanction appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Les philippistes déterminèrent le prince électeur Auguste à donner la sanction légale à un recueil des écrits de Mélanchthon, et, comme il régnait en qualité de tuteur sur Weimar-Iéna, à chasser du pays les zélateurs luthériens Wigand et Hesshus (1573).
  2. Les députés se demandèrent donc si la sanction royale étaient indispensable à la validité des textes constituants. […]. Les lois constitutionnelles ne devaient donc pas être sanctionnées par le roi.

Synonyms

consécration

This word in other languages

sanction(English)sanción(Español)Sanktion(Deutsch)sanção(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asnction
  • sacntion
  • sancction
  • sanciton
  • sanctino
  • sanctionn
  • sanctoin
  • sancttion
  • sannction
  • santcion
  • snaction
  • ssanction

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sanction - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

asnction2sacntion2sancction1sanciton2sanctino2sanctionn1sanctoin2sancttion1
Edit distance from "sanction"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sanction"?
"sanction" is spelled S-A-N-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\.
What does "sanction" mean?
As a noun, "sanction" means: Acte par lequel le souverain, le chef du pouvoir exécutif donne à une loi l’approbation, la confirmation qui la rend exécutoire.
What words are commonly confused with "sanction"?
"sanction" is commonly confused with "section", "sanctions", "sanctionné". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sanction"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sanction" is \sɑ̃k.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sanction" come from?
"sanction" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sanction", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

renvoyer#6,435tragique#6,446rassurer#6,431racistes#6,430

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

quinzaine12 variantsorientale12 variantsmédicaux12 variantslibérale12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list