hierarchy

hierarchy (hī´rär´kē),

n 1. system of persons or things ranked one above the other.
n 2. in psychology and psychiatry, an organization of habits or concepts in which simpler components are combined to form increasingly complex integrations.

See Maslow's hierarchy.

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hierarchy

order of superiority; the arrangement of echelons of command.

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court hierarchy

the way in which the courts in a country are arranged so that appeals can be carried from the lower to the higher courts.