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What was the word hierarchy originally coined to describe?

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hierarchy

American  

[hahy-uh-rahr-kee, hahy-rahr-] / ˈhaɪ əˌrɑr ki, ˈhaɪ rɑr- /

noun

plural

hierarchies

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.

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hierarchy British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• antihierarchy
  noun
• hierarchical
  adjective
• hierarchically
  adverb
• hierarchism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of hierarchy

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”; see hier(o)-, -archy

Explanation

Hierarchy describes a system that organizes or ranks things, often according to power or importance. At school the principal is at the top of the staff hierarchy, while the seniors rule the student hierarchy. Also known as a pecking order or power structure, a hierarchy is a formalized or simply implied understanding of who's on top or what's most important. All that sorting and ranking can be helpful if you're a business administrator, but if you find yourself arranging all the produce in your fridge according to a hierarchy of color, size, and expiration date, you might want to consider visiting a therapist.

Example Sentences

Only seven popes are known to have been older than Francis at the time of their deaths, according to the online resource Catholic Hierarchy.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 17, 2023

Lyndsay Pearson, the general manager of the Sims and a veteran of each of the four core games, references Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a model for the series’ social design.

From The Verge • Feb. 7, 2020

Hierarchy has become something of a buzzword around the Caps facility, where General Manager Brian MacLellan has also preached the importance of respecting such divisions.

From Washington Post • Nov. 25, 2015

A few weeks ago, a pyramid entitled “The C.E.O. Hierarchy of Needs” went viral.

From New York Times • May 4, 2015

So there is this thing called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

Related Words

• pecking order
• ranking