stratum

Noun

• an abstract place usually conceived as having depth
  • a good actor communicates on several levels
    
  • a simile has at least two layers of meaning
    
  • the mind functions on many strata simultaneously
    

• people having the same social, economic, or educational status
  • the working class
    
  • an emerging professional class
    

• one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  level , layer , class , social class , socio-economic class