Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

disestablish

[dis-i-stab-lish]
See more synonyms for disestablish on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to deprive of the character of being established; cancel; abolish.
  2. to withdraw exclusive state recognition or support from (a church).
Show More

Origin of disestablish

First recorded in 1590–1600; dis-1 + establish
Related formsdis·es·tab·lish·ment, nounun·dis·es·tab·lished, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for disestablish

Historical Examples

  • You see they want to disestablish everything; but I'm a pretty big landowner here, and I don't want to be disestablished.

    The Portrait of a Lady

    Henry James

  • These forcible-feeble reactionaries are much more likely to explode a revolution that will disestablish us.

    Soul of a Bishop

    H. G. Wells

  • Besides, what person in his senses would think of trying to disestablish John Backhouse?

    Robert Elsmere

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • You must not disestablish the Church: you must not even leave the Church: you must stop inside it and think what you choose.

  • The great business of the session of 1869 was, of course, the Bill to disestablish and disendow the Irish Church.

    Sixty Years a Queen

    Sir Herbert Maxwell

British Dictionary definitions for disestablish

disestablish

verb
  1. (tr) to deprive (a church, custom, institution, etc) of established status
Show More
Derived Formsdisestablishment, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012