hierarchy
/ˈhaɪəˌrɑːkɪ/noun
(pl. -ies)
1- a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority等级制度, 等级严密的组织。
1.1
the hierarchy
the clergy of the Catholic Church or of an episcopal Church; the religious authorities（天主教会或主教制教会的）神职人员; 宗教权威人士。
1.2
the hierarchy
the upper echelons of a hierarchical system; those in authority等级制度中的上层阶级; 当权者：the magazine was read quite widely even by some of the hierarchy.
这份杂志读者甚广, 甚至包括一些当权者。
1.3
- an arrangement or classification of things according to relative importance or inclusiveness（根据相对重要性或包含范围）分级, 分类：
a taxonomic hierarchy of phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species.
门、纲、目、科、属、种的分类体系。
1.4
- Theology the traditional system of orders of angels and other heavenly beings.【神学】天使的传统品级体系。
派生词
hierarchic
adjectivehierarchization
nounhierarchize
（亦作 -ise）verb词源
late Middle English: via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek hierarkhia, from hierarkhēs 'sacred ruler' （see HIERARCH）. The earliest sense was 'system of orders of angels and heavenly beings'; the other senses date from the 17th cent.