Hierarchy

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A hierarchy (in Greek: Ιεραρχία, it is derived from ιερός-hieros, sacred, and άρχω-arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people. Each element of the system (except for the top element) is below a single other element.

This turns out to be like a tree. There is a single person (or thing) at the top level.

An example from real life would be the structure of a company. There is the top manager, and there are a few levels of middle and lower management. At the bottom are the common workers.

In social hierarchies (like in the example above), people that are higher up have more authority and power than people below them.

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