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A hierarchy (Greek hieros sacred, arkho rule) is a system of rank ing and organizing things. Different fields use the word in slightly different ways, but a particular definition (below) captures the core of almost all uses. Originally, "hierarchy" meant "rule by priests". 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, the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in more general settings.
Examples of hierarchy:
- Theological: God, saved souls, angels, man, birds, animals, plants, rocks
- Scientific classification of organisms: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
- Social: king, nobleNoble can refer to a member of the nobility a Noble gas or Noble is a British automobile manufacturer. There are also several places named Noble in the United States: Noble, Illinois Noble, Louisiana Noble, Oklahoma Noble County, Indiana Noble County, Okls, gentryThe gentry refers to a social class of landowners. In Chinese history, the gentry has a specific meaning and refers to the shen-shi or the class of landowners that had passed the bureaucratic examinations in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In European histor, yeomanryIn the 1790s, the threat of invasion of England was high, with the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. In order to maximise the country's defences, a number of volunteer regiments were raised in many counties by yeomen. These regiments b, peasantA peasant from 15th century French paisant from Latin pagus country district, is someone who lives in the country either working for others or, more specifically, owning or renting and working by his own labour a small plot of ground. Peasants depend econs, serfA serf is a laborer who is bound to the land. Serfs differ from slaves in that serfs cannot be sold apart from the land which they work. Typically, when serfdom prevailed, the land itself could not be sold because it was associated with political powers (s
- Familial: fatherA father is the male parent of a child. Fathers may be categorised according to their biological, social or legal relationship with the child. Historically, the biological relationship paternity has been determinative of fatherhood. However, proof of pate, oldest sonSon can refer to various things: A male direct descendant If referring to the Korean branch of Buddhism, see Seon Son, a commune in the Ardennes departement in France A town within the municipality of Son en Breugel, in the Netherlands A Cuban musical sty, younger sons, motherA mother is typically the biological or social female parent of a child or offspring while the male parent is the father. The maternal bond describes the feelings the mother has for her (or another's) child. In the case of a mammal such as a human, the mo, eldest daughter, other daughters
1 General description (informal)
A precise, mathematical definition of hierarchy will be given below. This section will try to explore the ideas behind that more compact definition.
A hierarchy is based on an asymmetrical relationship, such as "is the boss of", "is part of", or "is better than". Such relationships are "asymmetrical" in the sense that if they "work one way", they don't "work the other". For example, if Sally is the boss of Jim, then Jim is not the boss of Sally. When two nodes are related, one is designated the "superior" (or sometimes the "parent") and the other the "subordinate" (or sometimes the "child"). In the intuitive case of the "is the boss of" relation, the boss is the superior and the employee is the subordinate.
Illustration: A hypothetical hierarchical organization for an encyclopedia. Each node "contains" all the sections below it; e.g. the culture section contains the art section and the craft section.
A hierarchy's asymmetrical relationship can link entities in one of three ways: directly, indirectly, or not at all. The illustration shows a direct link between the craft and culture sections; the craft section is directly linked to the culture section by the "contains" relationship. This is akin to how your boss is directly in charge of you. In contrast, the illustration shows an indirect link between craft and encyclopedia; the craft section is only "contained" by the encyclopedia as a whole by virtue of being "contained" by the culture section. This is akin to how the CEO of a company is in charge of a factory worker only via middle management. Finally, there is effectively no link between the art and the craft sections; neither section contains the other. This is akin to two co-workers, neither of whom is the other's boss.
Every member is reachable from any other by following the relationship in either direction, but there is no way of coming back to a particular member by always following the relationship in the same direction.
