Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - hierarchy

 noun  (plural -chies)  Etymology: Middle English ierarchie rank or order of holy beings, from Anglo-French jerarchie, from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek, from Greek hierarches  Date: 14th century  1. a division of angels  2.  a. a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it; especially the bishops of a province or nation  b. church government by a ~  3. a body of persons in authority  4. the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing; also the group so classified  5. a graded or ranked series a ~ of values HIERATIC  adjective  Etymology: Latin ~us sacerdotal, from Greek hieratikos, from hierasthai to perform priestly functions, from hieros sacred; probably akin to Sanskrit i?ara vigorous  Date: 1669  1. constituting or belonging to a cursive form of ancient Egyptian writing simpler than the hieroglyphic  2. sacerdotal  3. highly stylized or formal ~ poses  • ~ally adverb