Dictionary

hierarchy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhaɪ.ɑː(ɹ).ki/ (nonstandard)
• /ˈhaɪ.ɹɑː(ɹ).ki/
• /ˈhaɪ.ə.ɹɑː(ɹ).ki/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English ierarchie, jerarchie, from Old French ierarchie, jerarchie, from Late Latin ierarchia, from Latin hierarchia, from Ancient Greek ἱεραρχία (hierarkhía, “rule of a high priest”), from ἱεράρχης (hierárkhēs, “high priest”), from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”), equivalent to hiero- + -archy. The H was re-added c. 1500 due to influence from Classical Latin.

Meanings

1. A body of authoritative officials organized in nested ranks.
   • Gay men and bisexuals were blamed for the [AIDS] epidemic for much the same reason that the church hierarchy in the Middle Ages accused Jewish people of creating bubonic plague by "poisoning the wells." 2007 May 26, Leslie Feinberg, “Care & prevention, not repression”, in Workers World:
   • The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account. 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2023:
2. A social, religious, economic or political system or organization in which people or groups of people are ranked with some superior to others based on their status, authority or some other trait.
   • Social defeat arises in strict social hierarchies in which the few dominate the many. Overcrowding exacerbates the many ills of social defeat within these social hierarchies based on dominance. 2023 June 7, Charles Hugh Smith, Look Around and What Do You See? Social Defeat, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2023:
3. Any group of objects ranked so that every one but the topmost is subordinate to a specified one above it.
   • ... the surviving portions provide enough detail to outline its principal features: the hierarchy of beings to whom his liturgy was to be addressed (we previously considered Plethon's hierarchy of gods in our examination of his Summary[…] 2017 June 1, Peter Mark Adams, The Game of Saturn: Decoding the Sola-Busca Tarocchi, Scarlet Imprint, →ISBN, page 158:

Forms

Deriveds

hierarchy of effects · Kleene-Mostowski hierarchy · Kleene hierarchy · command hierarchy · arithmetic hierarchy · antihierarchy · hierarchist · superhierarchy · subhierarchy · phonological hierarchy · time hierarchy theorem · Lévy hierarchy · polyhierarchy · hierarchial · Chomsky hierarchy · arithmetical hierarchy · hierarchism

Relateds

hierarchization · hierarchize · thearchy · hierarchic · hierarch · holarchy · hierarchically · hierarchical

Synonyms

totem pole

Translations (118)

uk ієра́рхія (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ca jerarquia (class of objects) · tg иерархия (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sh хијера̀рхија (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · hi अनुक्रम (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · th ลำดับชั้น (class of objects) · de Rangordnung (class of objects) · hy պաշտոնակարգություն (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · kk баспалдақ (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · vi thứ bậc (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · eo hierarkio (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · mn иерархи (class of objects) · ja ヒエラルキー (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira سِلْسِلِه مَراتِب (class of objects) · ka იერარქია (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira پایگان (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ru иера́рхия (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · hy հիերարխիա (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · nb hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · pl hierarchia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sv hierarki (class of objects) · et hierarhia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira سِلْسِلِهمَراتِب (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cs hierarchie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · tl herarkiya (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · be іера́рхія (class of objects) · la hierarchia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · km អនុក្រម (class of objects) · id tata tingkat (class of objects) · nl hiërarchie (class of objects) · tk iýerarhiýa (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ko 계층 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · nan-hbl 階層 /阶层 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · gl xerarquía (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · lt hierarchija (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ga cliarlathas (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sv hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sk hierarchia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira هایرارْکی (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · da hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ar سِلْسِلَةُ مَراتِب (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · lb Hierarchie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · km លំដាប់សក្តិ (class of objects) · th ลำดับชั้น (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · hu alá-fölé rendeltség (class of objects) · vi tôn ti trật tự (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cmn 等級制度 /等级制度 (class of objects) · vi hệ thống thứ bậc (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sh hijeràrhija (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · pl hierarchia (class of objects) · pt hierarquia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · sq hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · de Hierarchie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · id hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cmn 階層 /阶层 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · es jerarquía (class of objects) · tr hiyerarşi (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ro ierarhie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cmn 層次 /层次 (class of objects) · eo hierarĥio (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cmn 等級制度 /等级制度 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ms hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fi hierarkia (class of objects) · vi thứ bậc (class of objects) · fa-ira سِلْسِلِهمَراتِب (class of objects) · sh хијера̀рхија (class of objects) · is stigveldi (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · mn иерархи (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · az iyerarxiya (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · mk хиерархија (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · be іера́рхія (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · da rangorden (class of objects) · el ιεραρχία (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · da hierarki (class of objects) · ca jerarquia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ja 階層 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fi hierarkia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · km យសស័ក្តិ (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ru иера́рхия (class of objects) · cmn 層次 /层次 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ky иерархия (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · lv hierarhija (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · it gerarchia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · nl hiërarchie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · vi tôn ti (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · hi हाइरार्की (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ks پَدٕکرٛٲم (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · cmn 階層 /阶层 (class of objects) · fr hiérarchie (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ja 序列 (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · km ទំរង់ស័ក្តិ (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ota سلسلهء مراتب (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · hu hierarchia (class of objects) · nl rangorde (class of objects) · de Hierarchie (class of objects) · uk ієра́рхія (class of objects) · sh hijeràrhija (class of objects) · hi पदानुक्रम (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · el ιεραρχία (class of objects) · mk хиерархија (class of objects) · hu hierarchia (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ar هَرَمِيَّة (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · mk чинослед (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · pt hierarquia (class of objects) · nn hierarki (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · es hierarquía (disused) (class of objects) · es hierarquía (disused) (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · ga ordlathas (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira سِلْسِلِه مَراتِب (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · vi hệ thống thứ bậc (class of objects) · bg йера́рхия (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · he הִיֵרַרכִיָה \ הייררכיה (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · kk иерархия (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · bg йера́рхия (class of objects) · sl hierarhija (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · es jerarquía (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · uz iyerarxiya (body of authoritative officials organised by rank) · fa-ira هایرارْکی (class of objects)