Countenancing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Granting approval for a behavior or action while also permitting or encouraging it in a specific context
2. Endorsing or allowing a particular action or decision while simultaneously displaying acceptance or support for it
3. Showing acceptance of a situation or behavior ; expressing approval or support for an action

Etymology: Countenance began as a word for demeanour rather than approval. Middle English "contenaunce" meant the bearing or expression of the face, and the same sense of "containment" or self-control runs underneath it. The word reached English through Anglo-Norman and Old French "contenance", and it is often traced to a verb meaning "to contain", ultimately from Latin "continentia", the source of "continence". The two English words are doublets, so "countenance" and "continence" share a common ancestor even though they now look and mean nothing alike. The leap from a facial expression to "support" happens because a look could signal how you regarded someone. To countenance a person or act was to keep up a bearing toward it that showed you were not opposed. Over time that expressive, almost physical sense of carrying oneself narrowed into the idea of giving tacit permission, so that to countenance something is to lend it an air of acceptance without necessarily endorsing it openly.

Synonyms: tolerating, allowing, endorsing, supporting, approving

Antonyms: opposing, forbidding, rejecting, disapproving, dismissing