hiemation 
hiemation (hi-e-ma'shon), w. [= F. hiemation, 
< L. hiematio(n-), wintering, < hicinare, pass 
the winter: see hiemate.] 1. The passing oi 1 
spending of a winter in a particular place or 
state ; hibernation. 
The American yucca is a harder plant than we take it 
to be : for it will suffer our sharpest winter . . . without 
that trouble and care of setting it in cases in our conserva- 
tories for hyemation. Evelyn, Sylva, xx. 
2f. The act or condition of affording shelter 
during winter. 
hiems (hi'emz), . [L. ; also written Mentis, 
and improp. hyems, winter ; = Gr. %iuv (x">v-, 
orig. xiop- ?), snow; cf. %ei/ui and ;/iv, winter, 
= Skt. hima = Zend zima = Pers. zim (> Hind. 
him, hem), cold, frost, snow: see Chionis, chi- 
meral, Himalayan.] Winter. 
On old Ht/erns' thin and icy crown, 
An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds 
Is, as in mockery, set. Shak., M. N. D., ii. 2. 
hien (hyen), re.; pi. hien. [Chinese.] 1. In 
China, a subordinate division of a fu or de- 
partment, or of an independent chow; an ad- 
ministrative district under the control of an 
official styled chih-hien. In the 18 provinces 
of China proper there are about 1,285 hien. 
2. The seat of government of such a district. 
Also written heen and hsien. 
hiera, . Plural of hieron. 
Hieraceae (hi-e-ra'se-e), n. pi. [NL., < Hiera- 
cium + -ea;.] A subtribe of plants belonging to 
the natural order Composites, tribe Cichoriacece. 
adopted by Bentham and Hooker (1876) , typified 
by the genus Hieracium. It was first proposed as a 
tribe by Don in 1829. It is the same as the Hieraciece of 
Cassini, and nearly the same as the Hieracia, of Kueling. 
Hieracite (hi'e-ra-s3t), n. [< Hierax (see def.) 
+ -ite 2 .] A follower of Hierax, an Egyptian 
ascetic (about A. D. 300), who denied the resur- 
rection of the body and the existence of a visi- 
ble paradise, and taught that only the celibate 
could enter the kingdom of heaven. 
Hieracium (hl-e-ra'si-um), n. [NL. (cf. L. hiera- 
cia,hawkweed, 'hieracium, a kind of eye-salve), < 
Gr. lepdiaov, also lepaicia, a plant, hawkweed, but 
not the mod. hieracium, < iepa$, a hawk or fal- 
con : see Hierax.'] A large genus of plants, be- 
longing to the order Composites and tribe Ci- 
choriaceai, and type of the subtribe Hieracew. 
They are perennial or rarely annual herbs, with the recep- 
tacle naked or short-flmbrillate, and a fuscous pappus of 
rigid, fragile bristles ; corollas all ligulate, 5-dentate, yel- 
low or rarely white or red ; achenia oblong or columnar, 
smooth and glabrous, mostly 10-ribbed or striate ; leaves 
I.ower Portion and Panicle of ffteracitttn venosum. 
a, flower ; b, fruit. 
often toothed, but never lobed. Nearly 300 species have 
been described, widely distributed throughout the tem- 
perate regions of both hemispheres. About 25 species are 
North American. Hawkweed is the name generally given 
to them. H. wnosuin., a native of the eastern United 
States, is called rattlesnake-weed. H. aurantiacum, a 
common European species, is known in England as grim- 
the-collier, on account of the black hairs which clothe the 
flower-stalk and involucre. H. prcealtum, also a European 
species, has become naturalized in restricted localities in 
northern New York, where it is known as the king-devil. 
H. pilosella, of Europe is there called mouse-ear. 
hieracosphinx (hi-e-ra'ko-sfingks), n. [< Gr. 
iepai;, a hawk, + o^x'yf, sphinx.] The hawk- 
headed sphinx of Egypt, as distinguished from 
the androsphinx and criosphinx. 
hiera-picra (hi''e-ra-pik'rii), n. [= F. hierepiere 
= Pg. hierapiera (cf . It. jera) = Sp. geropigia, 
2825 
jeropiijin, and E. accom. hickery-pickery, q. v., 
< ML. hiera-picra, < Gr. iepa, a name for many 
medicines in the Greek pharmacopoeia (fern, of 
ttpof , sacred), + mnpd, fern, of Troc/xif, sharp, pun- 
gent, bitter.] A warm cathartic composed of 
aloes and canella made into a powder, with 
honey. Popularly called hickery-pickery. 
hierarch (hi'e-rark), n. [= F. liierarque = Sp. 
liierarca, gerarca = Pg. hicrarcha = It. gerarca, < 
ML. hierarcha, < Gr. lepdpx'K, a steward or presi- 
dent of sacred rites, a high priest, < isptii;, sacred 
(see liiero-), + ap%oi;, a leader, ruler, < ap%eiv, 
rule.] 1. One who rules or has authority in 
sacred things. 
Angels, by imperial summons call'd, . . . 
Forthwith, from all the ends of heaven, appear'd, 
Under their hierarcha in orders bright. 
Milton, P. L, v. 587. 
2. Specifically, in Gr. antiq., one of a body of 
officials or minor priests attached to some tem- 
ples, as the sanctuary of Amphiaraus at Oropus, 
who had charge of the offerings of all kinds con- 
secrated to the god by his votaries, and of the 
inscribing and setting up of the records relat- 
ing to them. 
hierarchal (hi'e-rar-kal), a. [< hierarch + -al.] 
Of or pertaining to a hierarch or a hierarchy. 
Now ere dim night had disincumber'd heaven, 
The great hierarchal standard was to move. 
Milton, P. L., v. 701. 
hierarchic (hi-e-rar'kik), a. [= F. hierarchique 
= Sp. gerdrquico = Pg. jcrarchico = It. gerar- 
chico, jerarchico (cf . D. G. hierarchisch = Dan. 
Sw. hierarkislc), < Gr. lepapxtnof, < lepap%ia, hie- 
rarchy: see hierarchy.] Of or pertaining to a 
hierarchy. 
hierarchical (hl-e-riir'ki-kal), a. [< hierarchic 
+ -al.] Same as hierarchic. 
They declared "That that hierarchical government was 
evil and justly offensive, and burdensome to the king- 
dom." Clarendon, Civil War, II. 69. 
The Ignatian and pseudo-Clementine bishops, who are 
set up as living oracles and hierarchical idols. 
Schaf, Hist. Christ. Church, I. 99. 
Hierarchical classification. See dasirijication. 
hierarchically (hl-e-rar'ki-kal-i), adv. In a hi- 
erarchic manner; in conformity to ecclesiasti- 
cal authority, influence, or interests; by a system 
of government resembling that of the church. 
The society of this country [England] is hierarchically 
constituted. Gladstone, Gleanings, I. 44. 
The control of all elective offices by a sect hierarchically 
organized. The American, XIII. 291. 
hierarchism (hi'e-rar-kizm), n. [< hierarch + 
-ism.] Hierarchical principles or power; hie- 
rarchal character or influence ; belief in or de- 
votion to hierarchical rule. 
After a few centuries, the more dominant hierarchisiii 
of the West is manifest in the oppugnancy between Greek 
and Latin church architecture. 
Milman, Latin Christianity, xiv. 7. 
hierarchy (hi'e-rar-ki), n. ; pi. hierarchies (-kiz). 
[Early mod. E. yerarcliy (Skelton), late ME. 
gerarchie, etc., < OF. gerarchie, F. hierarchic = 
Pr. ierarchia, gerarchia = Sp. gerarquia = Pg. 
jerarchia = It. gerarchia, jerarchia = D. hierar- 
chy = G. hierarchic = Dan. Sw. hierarki, < ML. 
hierarchia, < Gr. iepapx'ia, the power or rule of 
a hierarch, < lepapxif, hierarch: see hierarch.] 
1. The power or dominion of a hierarch; hal- 
lowed or consecrated authority in what concerns 
religious order or government. 
Consider what I have written from regard for the church 
established under the hierarchy of bishops. Sivift. 
2. Government by ecclesiastical rulers ; an ec- 
clesiastical or priestly form of government. 
3. An order of holy beings regarded as em- 
ployed in divine government. 
That Musike, with his heauenly harmonie. 
Do not allure a heauenly mind from heauen, 
Nor set mens thoughts in worldly melodic, 
Til heauenly Hierarchies be quite forgot. 
Gascoigne, Steele Glas (ed. Arber), p. 77. 
Whom the supreme King 
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule, 
Each in his hierarchy, the orders bright. 
Milton, P. L., i. 735. 
4. A body of persons organized in ranks and 
orders for the exercise of rule over sacred things ; 
hence, an organized body of ecclesiastics in- 
trusted with government of either church or 
state ; also, a similarly organized body of offi- 
cials in other systems of government : as, the 
Roman Catholic hierarchy. 
If any one shall say that there is not in the Catholic 
Church a hierarchy established by the divine ordination, 
consisting of bishops, presbyters, and ministers, let him 
be anathema. Council of Trent (trans.), xxiii. 6. 
We may regard . . . the clergy or clerical estate as a 
body completely organised, with a minutely constituted 
and regulated hierarchy. Stulibx, Const. Hist., 376. 
hierocracy 
5. In science, a series of successive terms of 
different rank. The terms kingdom, order, sub- 
order, family, genus, and species constitute a 
hierarchy in zoology. 
As we ascend in the hierarchy of the organisms, we meet 
with ... an increasing differentiation of parts. 
H. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., 53. 
Celestial hierarchy, the collective body of angels, re- 
garded as forming a gradation of nine orders, differing In 
power and glory. The general belief in the church that 
the number of angelic orders is nine, and the assignment 
of a definite name and rank to each order, date from the 
sixth century. The first to fix the number, names, and 
sequence of these orders was the writer calling himself 
Dionysius the Areopagite, who seems to have lived about 
A. D. 500. The nine orders, beginning with the highest, 
are arranged, as follows, in three triads : I. 1, seraphim ; 
2, cherubim ; 3, thrones. II. 4, dominations or domin- 
ions (Ki>pioTi)Tes) ; 6, virtues (iurnn<is, the singular trans- 
lated 'might' in the authorized version, Eph. i. 21); 8, 
powers ('Eou<nai). III. 7, principalities or princedoms 
(' Apx<") ; 8, archangels ; 9, angels. 
hieratic (hi-e-rat'ik), a. [= F. hifratique, < L. 
hieraticus, < Gr. Icparwdf, of or for the priest's 
office, sacerdotal, also devoted to sacred uses, < 
ifpof, sacred: see hierarch.] 1. Pertaining to 
priests or to the priesthood; priestly; sacer- 
dotal. [Bare.] 
It [education in the East] was administered by the hie- 
ratic class. This was due to the fact that the priests were 
the only men of learning. 
Payne's Compayre's Hist, of Pedagogy, p. 15. 
2. Of sacred or priestly origin; due to or de- 
rived from religious use or influence: specifi- 
cally used of a kind of ancient Egyptian letters 
or writing, and of certain styles in art. Hieratic 
writing consists of abridged forms of hieroglyphics adopt- 
ed by the Egyptian priests for convenience and expedition 
in their records. Hieratic art is that which adheres to 
types or methods fixed and, as it were, consecrated by re- 
ligious tradition, as in some Egyptian art, and in much 
modern Greek or Byzantine religious painting, which is 
still medieval in character. 
Before the year 1840 our knowledge of archaic sculpture 
was almost limited to a few specimens in Italian museums, 
most of which are rather hieratic than archaic ; that is to 
say, conventional reproductions of the archaic, executed 
at a much later period. 
C. T. Newton, Art and Archseol., p. 74. 
hieratical (hl-e-rat'i-kal), a. [< hieratic + -al.] 
Same as hieratic. 
Hierax (hl'e-raks), n. [NL. , orig. lerax (Vigors, 
1824), < Gr. iepa!;, a hawk, falcon. See gerfalcon.] 
A genus of pygmy falcons or finch-falcons of 
Asia, containing some of the smallest birds of 
prey, as H. ccerulescens. Microhierax is a syn- 
onym. See Bengal falcon, under falcon. 
hierdet, A Middle English form of herd 2 . 
Chaucer. 
hierdesst, n- A Middle English form of herdess. 
Chaucer. 
hiero-. [< L. hiero-, < Gr. lepo-, combining form 
of tepof, sacred, holy, divine, mighty, glorious, 
etc., prob. = Skt. ishira, vigorous, fresh, bloom- 
ing.] An element in many compounds of 
Greek origin, meaning ' sacred, holy, divine.' 
Hierochloe, Hierochloa (hi-e-rok'lo-e, -a), n. 
[NL., < Gr. ispoc, sacred, holy, + %A6n, young 
green corn or grass, 
verdure.] A genus of 
odoriferous grasses, 
belonging to the tribe 
Phalaridce. The spike- 
lets bear three flowers, and 
the flowers each two pa- 
lets ; the two lower flow- 
ers are staminate only 
(having three stamens), 
sessile, and often awned ; 
the uppermost one is per- 
fect, has a short pedicel, 
two stamens, and no awns; 
and the glume equals or ex- 
ceeds the spikelet. There 
are about 8 species. The 
name holy-grotts, as well 
as the generic name, al- 
ludes to the practice in 
some parts of northern 
Europe of strewing the 
common species, H. bore- 
alis (the northern holy- 
grass), before the doors of 
churches on festival days. 
The inhabitantsof Iceland 
use it to scent their rooms 
and clothes. It is distrib- 
uted through northern Eu- 
rope, Asia, and America, 
occurring also in New Zea- 
land. Also called vanilla- 
or seneca-grast. 
aes(-siz). [< Gr. iep6c., 
sacred, holy, + -xparia, < Kpartlv, rule.] 1. Gov- 
ernment by or dominant influence of ecclesias- 
tics; hierarchy. Jefferson. [Rare.] 2. The 
sacerdotal class; priests collectively. [Bare.] 
