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.

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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

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

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Etymology

Origin of clerk

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

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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

If you wanted to tell a city clerk from a blacksmith, especially when they were both in their best bib and tucker, all you needed to do was sidle up and sniff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Now through Nov. 2, in-person voting centers are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the office of the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

When she went to pay, however, the clerk said around $48 had been spent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Jolene was released in 1973, and is about the fear she might lose her husband Carl Dean to a red-headed bank clerk who had flirted with him early on in their marriage.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

A curly ginger Valley and a brunette Thorn nodded and followed Seven to the desk of a shiny blue see-through clerk.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

What stood out was the knowledge base of the clerks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

ProPublica didn’t find any association between RTO and higher rates of late ballots in Wisconsin, even though clerks reported delays involving mail-in ballots cast in its state election, held this spring.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026

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

Then I asked if there were many clerks? to which he replied,—

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

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Related Words

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

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