Editing Hierarchy (section)

==Etymology==
Possibly the first use of the English word ''hierarchy'' cited by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' was in 1881, when it was used in reference to the three orders of three angels as depicted by [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] (5th–6th centuries). Pseudo-Dionysius used the related [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] word (ἱεραρχία, {{transliteration|grc|hierarchia}}) both in reference to the [[De Coelesti Hierarchia|celestial hierarchy]] and the [[Ecclesiastical polity|ecclesiastical hierarchy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07322c.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Hierarchy<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2005-04-27 |archive-date=2021-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126072002/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07322c.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Greek term ''hierarchia'' means 'rule of a high priest',<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/hierarchy |title=hierarchy |encyclopedia=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704153523/https://www.etymonline.com/word/hierarchy |archive-date=2018-07-04 |url-status=live}}</ref> from {{transliteration|grc|hierarches}} (ἱεράρχης, 'president of sacred rites, high-priest')<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Di%28era%2Frxhs |title=ἱεράρχης |author1=Henry George Liddell |author2=Robert Scott |encyclopedia=[[A Greek–English Lexicon]] |via=Perseus Digital Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703031946/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=i(era/rxhs |archive-date=2021-07-03 |url-status=live}}</ref> and that from ''hiereus'' (ἱερεύς, 'priest')<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Di%28ereu%2Fs |title=ἱερεύς |author1=Henry George Liddell |author2=Robert Scott |encyclopedia=[[A Greek–English Lexicon]] |via=Perseus Digital Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928172550/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Di(ereu%2Fs |archive-date=2020-09-28 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ''arche'' (ἀρχή, 'first place or power, rule').<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29rxh%2F |title=ἀρχή |author1=Henry George Liddell |author2=Robert Scott |encyclopedia=[[A Greek–English Lexicon]] |via=Perseus Digital Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125340/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=a)rxh%2F |archive-date=2011-06-06 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dionysius is credited with first use of it as an abstract noun.

Since hierarchical churches, such as the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] (see [[Catholic Church hierarchy]]) and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] churches, had tables of organization that were "hierarchical" in the modern sense of the word (traditionally with [[God in Christianity|God]] as the pinnacle or head of the hierarchy), the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in [[secular]] settings.