tier
noun /tɪə(r)/
/tɪr/
- a row or layer of something that has several rows or layers placed one above the other
- a wedding cake with three tiers
- in tiers The seating is arranged in tiers.
- one of several levels in an organization or a system
- We have introduced an extra tier of administration.
- a two-tier system of management
- the lower tier of government
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from French tire ‘sequence, order’, from tirer ‘elongate, draw’.