hierarchical Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective classified according to various criteria into successive levels or layers
    hierarchic; hierarchal.
    • it has been said that only a hierarchical society with a leisure class at the top can produce works of art
    • in her hierarchical set of values honesty comes first

WordNet

Hi`er*arch"ic*al adjective
Etymology
Cf. F. hiérarchique.
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to a hierarchy. -- Hi`er*arch`ic*al*ly, adv. MW10 = "of, relating to, or arranged in a hierarchy" 2. Pertaining to a transitive relation between objects by which they may be ordered into a hierarchy.

Webster 1913