hierarchy

noun

hi·​er·​ar·​chy ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē How to pronounce hierarchy (audio)
 also  ˈhi(-ə)r-ˌär-
plural hierarchies
1
: a division of angels
2
a
: a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it
especially : the bishops of a province or nation
b
: church government by a hierarchy
3
: a body of persons in authority
4
: the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing
also : the group so classified
5
: a graded or ranked series
a hierarchy of values

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What did hierarchy originally mean?

The earliest meaning of hierarchy in English has to do with the ranks of different types of angels in the celestial order. The idea of categorizing groups according to rank readily transferred to the organization of priestly or other governmental rule. The word hierarchy is, in fact, related to a number of governmental words in English, such as monarchy, anarchy, and oligarchy, although it itself is now very rarely used in relation to government.

The word comes from the Greek hierarchēs, which was formed by combining the words hieros, meaning “supernatural, holy,” and archos, meaning. “ruler.” Hierarchy has continued to spread its meaning beyond matters ecclesiastical and governmental, and today is commonly found used in reference to any one of a number of different forms of graded classification.

Examples of hierarchy in a Sentence

… he wrote a verse whose metaphors were read somewhere in the Baathist hierarchy as incitement to Kurdish nationalism. Geraldine Brooks, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2001
Whereas the monkeys normally hew to strict hierarchies when it comes to who gets the best food and who grooms whom, there are no obvious top or rotten bananas in the sharing of millipede secretions. Natalie Angier, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2000
The idea that social order has to come from a centralized, rational, bureaucratic hierarchy was very much associated with the industrial age. Francis Fukuyama, Atlantic, May 1999
The church hierarchy faced resistance to some of their decisions. He was at the bottom of the corporate hierarchy. a rigid hierarchy of social classes
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Announced tonight to open in April 2026, the glass-and-concrete masterpiece is designed amorphous and horizontal—like Los Angeles itself—to foster LACMA director Michael Govan’s vision of a democratic curation of artworks, mixing various eras and geographies without wings and hierarchies. Mark Guiducci, Vogue, 3 Nov. 2024 Lee also attended Michel Foucault’s lectures in Tokyo in 1970, and the French theorist’s revolutionary approach to hierarchies of power—his foregrounding of horizontality and relation—finds a subtle echo in the approachability and simplicity of Lee’s unassuming sculptures and paintings. Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024 Despite the team failing to impress for large periods last season, the club’s new hierarchy appeared to back ten Hag, despite the team finishing eighth in the Premier League. Ben Church, CNN, 28 Oct. 2024 Some band people prefer hierarchy and assertive decision-makers; others aspire to a more chaotic kind of democracy. Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hierarchy 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ierarchie rank or order of holy beings, from Anglo-French jerarchie, from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek, from Greek hierarchēs

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hierarchy was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near hierarchy

Cite this Entry

“Hierarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

hierarchy

noun
hi·​er·​ar·​chy ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē How to pronounce hierarchy (audio)
plural hierarchies
1
: a ruling body especially of clergy organized into ranks
2
a
: an arrangement into a series according to rank
b
: persons or things arranged in ranks or classes

More from Merriam-Webster on hierarchy

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