Where does “hierarchy” come from?

Hierarchy comes from Middle English jerarchie, from Old French ierarchie, from Latin hierarchia, from Ancient Greek ἱεραρχία, a compound of ἱερά (sacred) and ἀρχή (rule or authority).

hierarchy (English): A body of authoritative officials organized in...

Definitions

  1. A body of authoritative officials organized in...

Ancestry of “hierarchy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishierarchie
2Old Frenchierarchie
3Late Latinierarchia
4Latinhierarchiahierarchy
5Ancient Greekἱεραρχίαspiritual superiority; prelacy, prelature;...
6Ancient Greekἱεράρχηςhigh priest; hierarch; bishop
7Ancient Greek-άρχης-arch
8Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
9Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
10Proto-Indo-European-ess
11Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “hierarchy

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os