clerk

[ klurk; British klahrk ]

/ klɜrk; British klɑrk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clerk ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a salesclerk.

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

law clerk.

a member of the clergy; ecclesiastic.

a lay person charged with various minor ecclesiastical duties.

Archaic.

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

verb (used without object)

to act or serve as a clerk.

Nearby words

clericalism, clerically, clericals, clerihew, clerisy, clerk, clerk of works, clerkess, clerkly, clermont-ferrand, clerodendrum

Origin of clerk

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

Related forms

clerk·ish, adjectiveclerk·like, adjectiveclerk·ship, nounout·clerk, noun

sub·clerk, nounsub·clerk·ship, nounun·der·clerk, nounun·der·clerk·ship, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for clerk

Judge Hinkle said “the Constitution requires the Clerk to issue such licenses.”
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Bob Cratchit, the clerk who is the father of Tiny Tim and who meekly serves Scrooge, is paid fifteen shillings a week.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas|Clive Irving|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a way to be more available to needy souls outside the church, Williams took a clerk job at Walgreens pharmacy.
Exposed: The Gay-Bashing Pastor’s Same-Sex Assault|M.L. Nestel|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But instead of talking to us and resolving the issue, or getting a manager involved, the clerk calls the cops.
The Day I Used Eric Garner’s Voice|Joshua DuBois|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Her new friends jump to her defense and loudly tell the clerk to back off.
‘Girlhood’: Coming of Age in France’s Projects|Molly Hannon|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These are not the writers who make so much as a clerk's income out of the stage.
My Miscellanies, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Wilkie Collins
The clerk concluded, like the people at Saumur, that his head was turned, and did not pay him any further attention.
Voltaire's Romances|Franois-Marie Arouet
He was not at home, and I asked his clerk, to give me directions to some other spiritualist.
Secret Enemies of True Republicanism|Andrew B. Smolnikar
He bought groceries of a hardware dealer named Davidson, at Albany, that town whence came Mr. Weed's clerk.
North America, Volume II (of 2)|Anthony Trollope
The sullen fire in his eyes reminded the Kommerzienrat of the appearance of his clerk when he had spoken to him of Dr. Weilen.
Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch|Ulrich Frank

British Dictionary definitions for clerk

clerk

/ (klɑːk, US Canadian klɜːrk) /

noun

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

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

an employee of a court, legislature, board, corporation, etc, who keeps records and accounts, etca town clerk

Also called: clerk of the House British a senior official of the House of Commons

Also called: clerk in holy orders a cleric

US and Canadian short for salesclerk

Also called: desk clerk US and Canadian a hotel receptionist

archaic a scholar

verb

(intr) to serve as a clerk

Derived Formsclerkdom, nounclerkish, adjectiveclerkship, noun

Word Origin for clerk

Old English clerc, from Church Latin clēricus, from Greek klērikos cleric, relating to the heritage (alluding to the Biblical Levites, whose inheritance was the Lord), from klēros heritage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clerk (1 of 2)

clerk

"man ordained in the ministry," c.1200, from Old English cleric and Old French clerc "clergyman, priest; scholar, student," both from Church Latin clericus "a priest," noun use of adjective meaning "priestly, belonging to the clerus" (see cleric).

Modern bureaucratic usage is a reminder of the dark ages when clergy alone could read and write and were employed for that skill by secular authorities. In late Old English the word can mean "king's scribe; keeper of accounts;" by c.1200 clerk took on a secondary sense in Middle English (as the cognate word did in Old French) of "anyone who can read or write." This led to the sense "assistant in a business" (c.1500), originally a keeper of accounts, later, especially in American English, "a retail salesman" (1790). Related: Clerkship.

Word Origin and History for clerk (1 of 2)

clerk

"act as a clerk," 1550s, from clerk (n.). Related: Clerked, clerking.

clerk

noun

verb (used without object)

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of clerk

Examples from the Web for clerk

British Dictionary definitions for clerk

clerk

noun

verb

Word Origin for clerk

Word Origin and History for clerk (1 of 2)

clerk

Word Origin and History for clerk (1 of 2)

clerk