hierarchy

[ hahy-uh-rahr-kee, hahy-rahr- ]

noun

, plural hi·er·ar·chies.

1. any system of persons or things ranked one above another.
2. government by ecclesiastical rulers.
3. the power or dominion of a hierarch.
4. an organized body of ecclesiastical officials in successive ranks or orders:

   the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

5. one of the three divisions of the angels, each made up of three orders, conceived as constituting a graded body.
6. Also called celestial hierarchy. the collective body of angels.
7. government by an elite group.
8. Linguistics. the system of levels according to which a language is organized, as phonemic, morphemic, syntactic, or semantic.

hierarchy

/ ˈhaɪəˌrɑːkɪ /

noun

1. a system of persons or things arranged in a graded order
2. a body of persons in holy orders organized into graded ranks
3. the collective body of those so organized
4. a series of ordered groupings within a system, such as the arrangement of plants and animals into classes, orders, families, etc
5. linguistics maths a formal structure, usually represented by a diagram of connected nodes, with a single uppermost element Compare ordering heterarchy tree
6. government by an organized priesthood

Derived Forms

• ˌhierˈarchically, adverb
• ˈhierˌarchism, noun
• ˌhierˈarchical, adjective

Other Words From

• anti·hier·archy noun plural antihierarchies adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hierarchy¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English jerarchie, from Middle French ierarchie, gerarchie, from Medieval Latin (h)ierarchia, from Late Greek hierarchía “stewardship of sacred rites, rule or power of the high priest,” equivalent to hier(o)- “holy, sacred” + -archía, a combining form meaning “rule”; hier(o)-, -archy

Word History and Origins

Origin of hierarchy¹

C14: from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek hierarkhia, from hierarkhēs high priest; see hiero- , -archy

Example Sentences

There has been little evidence of this in recent years, with concerns the WRU hierarchy are sleepwalking into a continued downward spiral.

From BBC

One of my favorite details was learning that Deal writes all her lyrics by hand on a “hierarchy of paper.”

From New York Times

They also found that children from higher-ranking caste groups in India are some 20% less likely to experience stunting compared with those from marginalised groups, who occupy the lowest tiers of the caste hierarchy.

From BBC

The front organization functions both ways: as the facade of the totalitarian movement to the nontotalitarian world, and as the facade of this world to the inner hierarchy of the movement.

From Salon

Those writers’ vision blossomed in the early 19th century even as the popularity of artificial hierarchies rebounded among American white people, particularly in the South.

From Salon

Related Words

• pecking order
• ranking