What Is Hierarchy? Definition And Usage Of This Term

WHAT IS HIERARCHY – In this topic, we are going to know and learn the definition of this term and how is this term used in sentences.

Definition

The Oxford Dictionary defines the term as the following:

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
the upper echelons of a hierarchical system; those in authority.
an arrangement or classification of things according to relative importance or inclusiveness.
the traditional system of orders of angels and other heavenly beings.

Meanwhile, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines this term as the following:

a division of angels
a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it
the bishops of a province or nation
a body of persons in authority
the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing
a graded or ranked series

Synonyms

Here are some of the following synonyms:

Examples

Here are some examples of the usage of this term:

The government surveyed rural monasteries and schools, and reconstituted the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
At the same time this eternal being is conceived as the all-embracing world-soul from which emanates the hierarchy of individual souls.
The same remarks apply to a society that is caste-based, or has any other rigid hierarchy to social status.
On the re-establishment of the hierarchy in England Ullathorne became the first Roman Catholic bishop of Birmingham.