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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

• hierarchies
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hierarchies
  plural

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

See Examples For:

hierarchy hierarchies

Such extra dimensions have been proposed as one possible answer to the hierarchy problem, a longstanding question in physics that asks why gravity is dramatically weaker than the other fundamental forces.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

They also shed light on the tomb owner’s position in the Ramesside hierarchy, and on the other family members buried here – plus, potentially, later reusers of the tomb.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Newcastle's hierarchy always knew they wanted Howe's eventual successor to build on the foundations he put in place with an aggressive, high-pressing playing style.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

In the hierarchy of group chats, ranked from most benign to active minefield, the mom chat is in its own atmosphere, the Victor Wembanyama of thorny text chains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

In many ways, Daliwonga still regarded me as his junior, both in terms of my rank in the Thembu hierarchy and in my own political development.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

These AI systems demonstrated the ability to coordinate, establish hierarchies among themselves, cheat and erase traces of their actions.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

Ms. Brown catalogs the patient loads, paperwork and hospital hierarchies that wear nurses down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Ilaiyaraaja's mastery of the form helped disrupt those hierarchies.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

This is the Christian tradition: questioning inherited norms, unsettling comfortable hierarchies, insisting that the ethical imagination can go further than traditional society allows.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

By the time of Liszt and Wagner, the hierarchies were all but gone.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• pecking order
• ranking