Hierarchy

A hierarchy (in Greek hieros, sacred, and arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people.

Related Topics:
Greek - Rank

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The first usage in the Oxford English Dictionary for hierarchy is from 1380, where it was used in reference to the three orders of three angels as depicted by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Areopagite used the word both in reference to the heavenly hierarchy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07322c.htm. This was the origin of the common meaning of "rule by priests". Since hierarchical churches such as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches had tables of organization that were "hierarchical" in the modern sense of the word, the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in more general settings.

Related Topics:
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite - Priest - Church - Roman Catholic - Eastern Orthodox

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