'anti-disestablishment' originates from English, composed of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek, meaning 'against'), the prefix 'dis-' (from Latin, meaning 'apart' or 'not'), and 'establishment' (from Old French 'establissement', from Latin roots related to 'stabilis' meaning 'stable' or 'firm').

'anti-disestablishment' developed in relation to the 19th-century term 'antidisestablishmentarianism' (used in debates over proposals to disestablish the Church of England); the shorter form 'anti-disestablishment' later came into use to denote opposition to disestablishment more directly.

Initially it specifically referred to opposition to proposals to disestablish the Church of England; over time it has been used more generally to mean opposition to removing an official/state endorsement of a religion.