hierarchy
hierarchy Lexical Profile
hierarchy Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
"She quickly rose through the corporate hierarchy to become the youngest vice president in the firm's history."
An arrangement or classification of things, concepts, or data according to relative importance, inclusiveness, or level of abstraction.
"In computer science, a file system organizes folders and documents into a logical hierarchy."
The clergy of a church or religious institution organized into successive ranks of authority, or the ruling body of senior clergy itself.
"The proposed liturgical reforms were debated extensively by the church hierarchy before being approved."
• Rhymes for hierarchy
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Old French and Medieval Latin from Late Greek hierarchia ('rule of a high priest'), formed from hieros ('sacred') and archein ('to rule'). The word originally denoted the ranked celestial orders of angels before expanding to ecclesiastical and general social structures.