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
EW.com, 11 Apr. 2024
The move primarily affects employees who are classified as Level 6 or higher in Amazon’s internal hierarchy, such as senior managers and engineers, according to Fortune, which first reported the decision.
—William Gavin, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hierarchy 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hierarchy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hierarchy
Cite this Entry
“Hierarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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hierarchy
noun
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