/ ˈhaɪərɑːki; NAmE -rɑːrki/ noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
[ C , U ] a system, especially in a society or an organization, in which people are organized into different levels of importance from highest to lowest :
the social / political hierarchy
She's quite high up in the management hierarchy.
2.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] the group of people in control of a large organization or institution
3.
[ C ] ( formal ) a system that ideas or beliefs can be arranged into :
a hierarchy of needs
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek hierarkhia , from hierarkhēs sacred ruler, from hieros sacred + arkhēs ruler. The earliest sense was system of orders of angels and heavenly beings ; the other senses date from the 17th cent.