clerk

American  

[klurk, klahrk] / klɜrk, klɑrk /

noun

• clerks
  plural

1. a person employed, as in an office, to keep records, file, type, or perform other general office tasks.

2. a salesclerk.

3. a person who keeps the records and performs the routine business of a court, legislature, board, etc.

4. law clerk.

5. a member of the clergy; ecclesiastic.

6. a lay person charged with various minor ecclesiastical duties.

7. Archaic.

   1. a person who is able to read, or to read and write.

   2. a scholar.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to act or serve as a clerk.

clerk British  

/ klɜːrk, klɑːk /

noun

1. a worker, esp in an office, who keeps records, files, etc

2. (in England) a legally qualified person who sits in court with lay justices to advise them on points of law

3. an employee of a court, legislature, board, corporation, etc, who keeps records and accounts, etc

   a town clerk

4. Also called: clerk of the House. a senior official of the House of Commons

5. Also called: clerk in holy orders. a cleric

6. short for salesclerk

7. Also called: desk clerk. a hotel receptionist

8. archaic a scholar

---

verb

1. (intr) to serve as a clerk

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• clerkdom
  noun
• clerkship
  noun
• outclerk
  noun
• subclerk
  noun
• subclerkship
  noun
• underclerk
  noun
• underclerkship
  noun
• clerkish
  adjective
• clerklike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clerks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clerk

before 1000; Middle English, Old English clerc, variant of cleric < Late Latin clēricus cleric

Explanation

A clerk is an office worker who does various paper work and often keeps accounts of money or other details. An office clerk might answer the phone, file papers, or organize computer records. A clerical worker is one kind of clerk, and another is the person behind a counter at a store who rings up sales on a cash register. The clerk at your favorite bookstore might also recommend the best new books. Clerk originally had a religious meaning, from cleric, which meant both "ordained person" and "literate person." Because of this second meaning, clerk came to mean "anyone who can read or write."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clerk clerks

His first job was as a wages clerk for a bus company.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

No opposition for the measure was submitted to the registrar-recorder/county clerk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The news came in a letter sent by the court's clerk to lawyers involved in the case.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

An ambiguous exploration of literature and voyeurism, the Nobel laureate’s 1997 novel follows a middle-aged clerk who becomes obsessed with piecing together the life of a woman he doesn’t know.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

The hotel clerk muttered as he wrote it all down.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

The position involves overseeing and training attorneys, as well as law clerks and summer interns, on misdemeanor and felony case preparation and trial strategy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Also, at five of nine mail processing facilities studied, retail clerks who were postmarking ballots by hand sometimes used stamps with inaccurate dates, according to the report.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Every Thursday, he played tennis with his three clerks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

For example, larger shares of dry cleaners and construction workers said they use AI on the job when compared to administrative assistants and data-entry clerks.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

He waited—-it seemed to him for a long time—and then the clerks began to arrive, counting-house doors were unlocked, warehouses were unchained.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Related Words

• agent
• auditor
• bookkeeper
• cashier
• employee
• operator
• receptionist
• salesperson
• secretary
• teller
• worker