countenance vs commendation

countenance and commendation both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
countenance	Yes	No	Yes	No
commendation	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, commendation is a hypernym of countenance; that is, commendation is a word with a broader meaning than countenance:

Other hypernyms of countenance include approval.

countenance (noun)	commendation (noun)
the appearance conveyed by a person's face	an official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement
the human face (`kisser' and `smiler' and `mug' are informal terms for `face' and `phiz' is British)	a message expressing a favorable opinion
formal and explicit approval

countenance (verb)	commendation (verb)
consent to, give permission; permit