The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ish₁ros
- Proto-Hellenic · derived from*iherós
- Ancient Greek · derived fromἱεράρχης
- Medieval Latin · derived fromhierarcha
- English todayhierarch
From Medieval Latin hierarcha, from Ancient Greek ἱεράρχης (hierárkhēs) Derived from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruler”, “leader”). ἱερός from Proto-Hellenic *iherós, from Proto-Indo-European *ish₁ros. There are a number of candidate cognates with this word. Compare Sanskrit इषिर (iṣira, “vigorous, fresh, blooming”) and Oscan 𐌀𐌉𐌔𐌖𐌔𐌉𐌔 (aisusis).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.