51Թ

Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for

hierarchy

[hahy-uh-rahr-kee, hahy-rahr-]

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.



hierarchy

/ ˈɪəˌɑːɪ /

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

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other 51Թ Forms

  • antihierarchy noun
  • ˌ󾱱ˈ󾱳 adverb
  • ˈ󾱱ˌ󾱲 noun
  • ˌ󾱱ˈ󾱳 adjective
Discover More

51Թ History and Origins

Origin of hierarchy1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English jerarchie, from Middle French ierarchie, gerarchie, from Medieval Latin (h)ierarchia, from Late Greek 󾱱í “stewardship of sacred rites, rule or power of the high priest,” equivalent to hier(o)- “holy, sacred” + -í, a combining form meaning “rule”; hier(o)-, -archy
Discover More

51Թ History and Origins

Origin of hierarchy1

C14: from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek hierarkhia, from 󾱱ŧ high priest; see hiero- , -archy
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

A military source said the departure was "strategic" and "at the request of the hierarchy", the news agency reported.

From

Not everyone defines success as a straight shot to the top of the corporate hierarchy, as Grede implies.

From

The girl is from the Dalit community, which is at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy.

From

Add the examples from psychology and the bungle we're making of the Earth we "manage," and humans don't have good evidence to put ourselves at the top of some kind of evolutionary hierarchy after all.

From

Ancelotti envisions a technical staff built not around a strict hierarchy of "manager" and "assistant," but a group of five or six specialists, each focused on a specific area of the game.

From

Advertisement

Related 51Թs

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


hierarchizehieratic