Etymologically
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hierarchical

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌhaɪəˈɹɑːkɪkəl/[1]
  • US: /ˌhaɪˈɹɑɹkɪkəl/[1]

Etymology

Etymonline and Dictionary.com take it as formed from English hierarch + -ical.[2][3] The OED analyses it as Ancient Greek ἱεραρχικός (hierarkhikós, “hierarchic”) with the suffix -al,[4] the Shorter Oxford as hierarchic with the same suffix,[5] and Merriam-Webster takes it from Middle French hierarchique or Medieval Latin hierarchicus, from hierarchia and the Latin suffix -icus.[6][7] Johnson also derived it from the French word.[8] Hierarch is from hierarcha, from ἱεράρχης (hierárkhēs, “steward of sacred rites, high priest”), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred”) and -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruling”).[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belonging to the hierarchy of angels: 1471, in Ripley's Compound of Alchymy, a sense recorded only then.[4][5] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1425–75;[3] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to the 1560s and 1561.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the history of hierarchy, which was first used of the ranks of angels and only in the early 17th century of the clergy, and then of any graded system.[9][2] So hierarchical meant first belonging to the celestial hierarchy,[4][5] then from 1561, in Norton's translation of Calvin, belonging to a priestly hierarchy;[4][6] Johnson (1755) still defined it as belonging to sacred or ecclesiastical government.[8] The general sense, arranged in a regular gradation of orders, classes or ranks, is recorded from 1832.[4][5]

Timeline

  • 1471 – belonging to the angelic hierarchy (obsolete).[4]
  • 1561 – belonging to a priestly hierarchy.[4][6]
  • 1832 – arranged in a gradation of orders, classes or ranks.[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Arranged in a series of ranks or levels, each above or below another: a hierarchical filing system.[4][5]
  2. Having a strict order of authority; stratified: a hierarchical company where juniors rarely speak to the board.[6]
  3. Of, relating to or governed by a religious hierarchy.[6][4][8]
  4. (obsolete) Belonging to the hierarchy of angels (1471).[4][5]

Word family

  • hierarchically
  • antihierarchical
  • nonhierarchical

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  8. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black