encouragement vs approval

encouragement and approval both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
encouragement	Yes	No	No	No
approval	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, approval is a hypernym of encouragement; that is, approval is a word with a broader meaning than encouragement:

Other hypernyms of encouragement include commendation.

encouragement (noun)	approval (noun)
the act of giving hope or support to someone	the formal act of approving
the expression of approval and support	a message expressing a favorable opinion
the feeling of being encouraged	a feeling of liking something or someone good
	acceptance as satisfactory