system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How did the word sanction come to have two completely different meanings: 1. to approve something and then 2. A threatened penalty?
gpt
It comes from the root (Latin) sānctiō, meaning "a law or decree that is sacred or inviolable."

The **verb** sanction still essentially means the same thing for the positive or negative - to 'sanction' something is to give it official approval.

So technically the **noun**  also means the same thing - a rule or decree that has official approval - even though this rule can be a positive or a negative.