A series of ancestors or progenitors; lineage, or those who compose the line of natural descent.
Condition as to ancestors; ancestral lineage; hence, birth or honorable descent.
The natural hierarchy of social status and dominance occurring in a group of birds.
The usually informal hierarchy of authority or command, often partial or approximate, as determined by the especially natural propensity for domination of different members of a specific group over each other, such as older brothers and sisters over their younger siblings.