Hierarchies

[hahy-uh-rahr-kee, hahy-rahr-] /ˈhaɪ əˌrɑr ki, ˈhaɪ rɑr-/

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.
/ˈhaɪəˌrɑːkɪ/
noun (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.
(linguistics, maths) a formal structure, usually represented by a diagram of connected nodes, with a single uppermost element Compare ordering, heterarchy, tree (sense 6)
6.
government by an organized priesthood
n.

mid-14c., from Old French ierarchie, from Medieval Latin hierarchia “ranked division of angels” (in the system of Dionysius the Areopagite), from Greek hierarkhia “rule of a high priest,” from hierarkhes “high priest, leader of sacred rites,” from ta hiera “the sacred rites” (neuter plural of hieros “sacred;” see ire) + arkhein “to lead, rule” (see archon). Sense of “ranked organization of persons or things” first recorded 1610s, initially of clergy, sense probably influenced by higher. Related: Hierarchal; hierarchical.