hier(o)-

Sacred or holy.

[Greek hieros, sacred.]

Most common terms are figurative: hierarchical refers to people or things arranged in order of rank in a hierarchy (Greek arkhein, to rule; the earliest sense was of a system of orders of angels and heavenly beings); a hieroglyph (Greek gluphē, carving) is a stylized picture representing a word, syllable, or sound, of which early examples occurred in ancient Egyptian sacred writings; similarly, the adjective hieratic, priestly, can often refer to the ancient Egyptian writing of abridged hieroglyphics. A hierophant (Greek phainein, reveal) is a person, especially a priest, who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles; hierocracy (Greek kratia, rule) is rule by priests.

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