countenance

サンデル教授のJUSTICEでは様々な局面でのJUSTICEとは何かを問いかけます。今日引用する単語は Can Loyalty Override Universal Moral Principles? の項からです。
Before the Civil War, Lee was an officer in the Union army. He opposed secession--in fact, he regarded it as treason. When war loomed, President Lincoln asked Lee to lead the Union forces. Lee refused. He concluded that his obligation to Virginia outweighed his obligation to the Union, and also his reported opposition to slavery. He explained his decision in a letter to his sons:
With all my devotion to the Union, I have not been able to make up my mind to rasise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home... If the Union is dissolved, and the Government disrupted, I shall return to my native State and share the miseries of my people. Save in her defense, I will draw my sword no more.

Like the French resistance pilot, Lee could not countenance a role that would require him to harm on his relatives, his children, his home. But his loyalty went further, even to the point of leading his people in a cause he opposed.
"countenance" の意味で私が思い起こるのは顔色、表情、平静位なので、動詞の意味を辞書で調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to extend approval or toleration to : sanction: refused to countenance any changes in the policy
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to find acceptable; to approve of or give support to: The school will not countenance bad behaviour.
V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionaryに次ぎの説明がありました。
The "formal approval" definition of countenance is similar to consent. The verb form of countenance is also similar to condone, except condone refers to tolerating and overlooking negativity, whereas countenance refers to giving formal approval.
この辞書は言葉のニュアンスも解説しているので参考になりますが、掲載していない単語も多いのでいつも利用できるわけではありません。