sanction vs commendation

sanction and commendation both are nouns.

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

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

Other hypernyms of sanction include approval.

sanction (noun)	commendation (noun)
the act of final authorization	an official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement
a mechanism of social control for enforcing a society's standards	a message expressing a favorable opinion
official permission or approval
formal and explicit approval

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