disaffiliate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disaffiliate
Explanation
To disaffiliate is to break off a connection with a person, group, or organization. If your book club has become nothing but a monthly gossip session, with no discussion of books at all, you might decide to disaffiliate from it. Disaffiliate combines dis-, "the opposite of," with affiliate, "bring into close association," from the Latin affiliare, "to adopt a son." When someone separates themselves from some close association, they disaffiliate from it. If you no longer want to be affiliated with a group of friends, you can decide to disaffiliate. And when a church has a disagreement with its denomination, it can also disaffiliate, becoming an independent, separate.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Opponents say overseas churches already can disaffiliate under church rules – and some conferences in Eastern Europe have taken such steps.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2024
A chart from the church’s UM News service shows a total of 4,359 congregations have been approved to disaffiliate, approximately 14% of the denomination’s 30,543 U.S. congregations reported in 2019.
From Washington Times • Jun. 5, 2023
Last month, 38 churches in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church sued in the state’s Superior Court, demanding they be allowed to disaffiliate from the denomination.
From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2022
“Based on what I know so far, the LPVA’s board did not have the procedural or legal authority to disaffiliate or ‘dissolve’ without a vote of the membership,” McArdle wrote.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2022
“However, we have long understood that organizations choose to disaffiliate from universities for a variety of legitimate reasons, because in some cases Panhellenic organizations have done so as well.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
