clerk

American  

[klurk, klahrk] / klɜrk, klɑrk /

noun

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.

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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

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verb

1. (intr) to serve as a clerk

Other Word Forms

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

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

It all stems from Gorsuch’s third book and his first for children, which was co-written with a former law clerk and released in early May ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday.

From Salon • May 11, 2026

Duncan’s résumé is unusual for a court clerk: He spent 26 years in prison, from 1985 to 2011, for a murder he did not commit.

From Slate • May 5, 2026

Shanmugam, a former clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, led Paul Weiss’s Supreme Court and appellate practice.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

CoreLogic aggregates public deed records from over 3,000 county clerk and recorder offices across the United States.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

“Do you have a room for the night?” the owner of the larger boots asked the desk clerk.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

Related Words

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