hierarchy

 
Pronunciation: /ˈhʌɪərɑːki/

noun (plural hierarchies)

  • a system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority: the initiative was with those lower down in the hierarchy [mass noun]: the trend is to get away from hierarchy and control
  • (the hierarchy) the clergy of the Catholic Church or of an episcopal Church: the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Romania
  • (the hierarchy) the upper echelons of a hierarchical system: the magazine was read quite widely even by some of the hierarchy
  • an arrangement or classification of things according to relative importance or inclusiveness: a taxonomic hierarchy of phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species
  • Theology the traditional system of orders of angels and other heavenly beings: the heavenly hierarchy

Derivatives

hierarchic

Pronunciation: /-ˈrɑːkɪk/
adjective

hierarchization

noun

hierarchize

(also hierarchise) verb

Origin:

late Middle English: via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek hierarkhia, from hierarkhēs 'sacred ruler' (see hierarch). The earliest sense was 'system of orders of angels and heavenly beings'; the other senses date from the 17th century

Spelling help

The beginning of hierarchy should be spelled hier-; the ending is -archy.