Sanction has two nearly opposite meanings: to sanction can be to approve of something, but it can also mean to punish, or speak harshly to. Likewise, a sanction can be a punishment or approval. Very confusingââthe person who invented this word should be publicly sanctioned! See if you can guess the meaning of sanction in the following contexts.
Artist's rendering of concept for the Bering Strait bridge. The Bering Strait was last crossed by humans 20,000 years ago during the ice age, when ice formed a bridge between North America and Asia. Today, 47 miles and some of the harshest ocean and arctic conditions separate the two continents. However, there are many who believe there would be great economical, sociological, and political value in connecting the two land masses by bridge or tunnel.
This proposed land bridge was an attempt to explain the well known paleontological observation that the same fossilized plants and animals from the same time period were found in South America and Africa. The same was true for fossils found in Europe and North America, and Madagascar and India.