Hierarchy- some research Idid last week..

Hierarchy..
What does it mean? where does it come from?

I've just been Wikipedia Searching information that will be edited later on. (Cettina)

Reference: www.wikipedia.com

Hierarchy is a Greek word which hieros means "sacred" and arcko meaning "rule". Its a system of ranking and organising people or things, where each element of the system excluding the top element is a subordinate to a single other element. The word Hierarchy sited by the Oxford dictionary was in 1880, when it was used in reference to the three orders of three angels as depicted by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite which
used the word both in reference to the celestial hierarchy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. His term is derived from the Greek for 'Bishop' (hierarch), and Dionysius is credited with first use of it as an abstract noun. 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 (traditionally with GOD as the pinnacle of the hierarchy), the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in more general settings.
A hierarchy can link entities either directly or indirectly, and either vertically or horizontally. The only direct links in a hierarchy, insofar as they are hierarchical, are to one's immediate superior or to one of one's subordinates, although a system that is largely hierarchical can also incorporate other organizational patterns. Indirect hierarchical links can extend "vertically" upwards or downwards via multiple links in the same direction. All parts of the hierarchy which are not vertically linked to one another can nevertheless be "horizontally" linked by traveling up the hierarchy to find a common direct or indirect superior, and then down again. This is akin to two co-workers, neither of whom is the other's boss, but both of whose chains of command will eventually meet.

Definition For Hierarchy
Reference: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy

• A ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it; especially : the bishops of a province or nation church government by a hierarchy.
• A body of persons in authority
• The classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing; also : the group so classified
• A graded or ranked series hierarchy of values>

The Pyramid
When referring to the term hierarchy it is normally portrayed in a pyramid, below is an example on how a hierarchy actually works when shown in a diagram. The most favoured option goes at the top and the least amount goes to the bottom.