| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| hierarchy |
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| SYLLABICATION: | hi·er·ar·chy |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h   -rär k , hrär- |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. hi·er·ar·chies
1. A body of persons having authority. 2a. Categorization of a group of people according to ability or status. b. The group so categorized. 3. A series in which each element is graded or ranked: put honesty first in her hierarchy of values. 4a. A body of clergy organized into successive ranks or grades with each level subordinate to the one above. b. Religious rule by a group of ranked clergy. 5. One of the divisions of angels. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English ierarchie, from Old French, from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Greek hierarkhi , rule of a high priest, from hierarkhs, high priest. See hierarch.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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