verb
- to remove the official status or recognition of (a church or religious institution), especially by withdrawing state support or legal privileges
Usage: formal; chiefly historical or political
Examples
- The government disestablishes the national church by passing new legislation.
- Parliament voted to disestablish the Anglican Church in Wales during the 19th century.
- The reform disestablishes religious institutions from state control.
- When a country disestablishes its official religion, it separates church and state.
- The law disestablishes the privileged position that the church had held for centuries.