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Antidisestablishmentarianism

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a political philosophy that is opposed to the separation of church and state. The term originated in the context of the nineteenth century Church of England; antidisestablismentarians were opposed to proposals to remove its status as the state church of England. The term has largely fallen into disuse, although the issue itself is still current. (See: Act of Settlement)

It can be broken down as follows:

~ism ...... the philosophy of
~arian~ ...... those people who believe in
anti~ ...... opposition to
~dis~ ...... the removal of
~establishment~ ...... the Church of England as the official state church

Antidisestablishmentarianism is often quoted as one of the longest English words that has an actual meaning: see Longest word in the English language, although there is a longer word; Pseudoantidisestablishmentarianism, meaning false opposition to the separation of the state and the church.

wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump