Noun

(hierarchies)

A body of authoritative officials organized in nested ranks.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington

, title= Keeping the mighty honest , passage=The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy : at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.}}

Any group of objects ranked so that every one but the topmost is subordinate to a specified one above it.