disestablishmentarian

[ dis-i-stab-lish-muhn-tair-ee-uhn ]

noun

1. a person who favors the separation of church and state, especially the withdrawal of special rights, status, and support granted an established church by a state; an advocate of disestablishing a state church.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or favoring the disestablishment of a state church.

Other Words From

• dises·tablish·men·tari·an·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of disestablishmentarian¹

First recorded in 1880–85; dis- ¹ + establishment + -arian

Example Sentences

To Mary lire, 28, actress wife of Britain's splenetic, disEstablishmentarian Playwright John Osborne: her first child, a son; in London, while her husband sojourned at a French villa.

From Time Magazine Archive