hierarchy
noun
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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
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
John Waldmann, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
There is so much rich cultural subtext throughout, especially in the hierarchy and relationships among all the aunties and cousins.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
In a fictional Tokyo heya, or wrestling stable, a rigid hierarchy based on competitive achievement is brutally enforced.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2025
Vatican prepares for Lent without Francis The pope had intended to attend a spiritual retreat this coming weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy.
—Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hierarchy
Cite this Entry
“Hierarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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hierarchy
noun
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