sanction vs approval

sanction and approval both are nouns.

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

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

Other hypernyms of sanction include commendation.

sanction (noun)	approval (noun)
the act of final authorization	the formal act of approving
a mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards	a message expressing a favorable opinion
official permission or approval	a feeling of liking something or someone good
formal and explicit approval	acceptance as satisfactory

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