hierarchy

/ˈhaɪərɑːrki/
noun
  1. A system in which people or things are arranged according to their importance or authority.
    • She worked her way up the hierarchy to become a manager.
    • The animal kingdom has a clear hierarchy of predators and prey.
    • In a corporate hierarchy, the CEO is at the top.
  2. The group of people who control an organization; the leadership or ruling class.
    • The church hierarchy made the final decision on the new policy.
    • The military hierarchy is strict about following orders.
    • The school's hierarchy includes the principal, vice principal, and department heads.
  3. A graded or ranked series of items, such as in a computer file system or a classification scheme.
    • The website's menu hierarchy makes navigation easy.
    • The folder hierarchy on your computer helps you organize documents.
    • Biologists use a hierarchy of species, genus, and family.