In 19th-century Britain, it developed as a political movement in opposition to disestablishmentarianism, the Liberal Party's efforts to disestablish or remove the Church of England as the official state church of England, Ireland, and Wales. The Church's status has been maintained in England, but in Ireland, the Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871. In Wales, four Church of England dioceses were disestablished in 1920 and became the Church in Wales. The position of antidisestablishmentarianism has been favoured by Christian nationalists.
Antidisestablishmentarianism is also frequently noted as one of the longest non-scientific words in the English language besides floccinaucinihilipilification.
