hierarchy – WordReference.com Dictionary of English

UK: * UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈhaɪərɑː r ki/

WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023

hi•er•ar•chy

 /ˈhaɪəˌrɑrki, ˈhaɪrɑr-/

USA pronunciation

n.

[

countable

]

pl.

 -chies. 

1. any system of persons or things ranked one above another.

2. Religion

   the persons in authority or having the highest power:

   the party hierarchy.

hi•er•ar•chic/ˌhaɪəˈrɑrkɪk/

USA pronunciation

  hi•er•ar•chi•cal,

adj.

 
hi•er•ar•chi•cal•ly,

adv.

See -arch-

/ˈhaɪəˌrɑrki, ˈhaɪrɑr-/

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023

hi•er•ar•chy

 
(hī′ə rär′kē, hī′rär-),

USA pronunciation

n., pl.

 -chies. 

1. any system of persons or things ranked one above another.

2. Religion

   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. Religion

   one of the three divisions of the angels, each made up of three orders, conceived as constituting a graded body.

6. Religion

   Also called celestial hierarchy. the collective body of angels.

7. Government

   government by an elite group.

8. Linguistics

   the system of levels according to which a language is organized, as phonemic, morphemic, syntactic, or semantic.

• Medieval Latin ierarchia, variant of hierarchia
• Middle French ierarchie
• Late Greek hierarchía rule or power of the high priest, equivalent. to hier-

  hier

  – + archía –

  archy;

  replacing Middle English jerarchie

• Medieval Latin hierarchia
• 1300–50

(hīə rär′kē, hīrär-),

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hierarchy

/

ˈhaɪəˌrɑːkɪ

/

n

(

pl

-chies

)

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. government by an organized priesthood

Etymology: 14

th

Century: from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek hierarkhia, from hierarkhēs high priest; see

hiero-

,

-archy

ˌhierˈarchical, ˌhierˈarchic

adj

ˈhierˌarchism

n

‘hierarchy‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):