nihil obstat vs sanction

nihil obstat and sanction both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
nihil obstat	Yes	No	No	No
sanction	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, sanction is a hypernym of nihil obstat; that is, sanction is a word with a broader meaning than nihil obstat:

As nouns, sanction is a hypernym of nihil obstat; that is, sanction is a word with a broader meaning than nihil obstat:

nihil obstat: the phrase used by the official censor of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a publication has been examined and contains nothing offensive to the church
sanction: formal and explicit approval

Other hypernyms of nihil obstat include countenance, endorsement, imprimatur, indorsement, warrant.

nihil obstat (noun)	sanction (noun)
authoritative approval	the act of final authorization
the phrase used by the official censor of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a publication has been examined and contains nothing offensive to the church	a mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards
	official permission or approval
	formal and explicit approval

nihil obstat (verb)	sanction (verb)
	give sanction to
	give religious sanction to, such as through an oath
	give authority or permission to