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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).
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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

Related Words

prohibitoverturnrevokesuppressterminatenullifyannuloverthrowcancelabrogaterescindrepealdissolveeradicatedisturbexpelloseuprootevictinvalidate

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
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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