disestablish

verb dis·es·tab·lish \ ˌdis-ə-ˈstab-lish \

Updated on: 30 Mar 2018

Definition of disestablish

transitive verb

: to deprive of an established status; especially : to deprive of the status and privileges of an established church

—

disestablishment

play \-mənt\ noun

See disestablish defined for English-language learners

Examples of disestablish in a Sentence

efforts to disestablish the Church of England

Recent Examples of disestablish from the Web

Did Congress explicitly disestablish the Creek reservation at any point?

— matt ford, The New Republic, "The Grisly Murder Case That Could Turn Half of Oklahoma Back Into Tribal Lands," 15 Mar. 2018
Thomas Jefferson had strong views on religion, but his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom disestablished the Church of England and established religious liberty for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, even pagans.

— jonah goldberg, National Review, "Does America Still Believe in the Right to Be Wrong?," 27 Sep. 2017
Thomas Jefferson had strong views on religion, but his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom disestablished the Church of Englandand established religious liberty for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, even pagans.

— jonah goldberg, Alaska Dispatch News, "We’ve lost respect for the right to be wrong," 27 Sep. 2017
In his efforts to mark a break from the Ottoman Empire and consolidate the new Turkish Republic, Ataturk moved to disestablish Islam.

— steven a. cook, The Atlantic, "Turkey's Identity Crisis," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disestablish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.