clerk
clerk Lexical Profile
clerk Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person employed in an office, bank, court, or municipal body to keep records, maintain accounts, handle correspondence, and perform general administrative duties.
"The county clerk filed the property deed and issued a certified copy to the new homeowners."
North American A retail employee who assists customers, rings up purchases at a cash register, or attends the reception desk at a hotel.
"The hotel clerk handed us our room keys and explained the breakfast schedule."
A law graduate or senior law student who assists a judge or attorney by conducting legal research and drafting opinions or briefs.
"She spent a year working as a judicial clerk at the federal appellate court before joining a private firm."
An ordained member of the Christian clergy, or historically, a medieval scholar able to read and write.
"In medieval manuscripts, the term clerk referred to any educated scholar trained within the Church."
• verb
North American To work or serve as an administrative, legal, or retail clerk (especially for a judge, court, or store).
"After graduating from law school, he clerked for a Supreme Court justice for two terms."
Word Nuance & Usage
Pronunciation and primary usage vary by region: in American English, it is pronounced to rhyme with 'work' and commonly includes retail sales staff, whereas in British English, it is pronounced to rhyme with 'lark' and is restricted to administrative, legal, or financial officials.
• Rhymes for clerk
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'clerc' and Old French 'clerc', via Late Latin 'clericus' from Ancient Greek 'klerikos' ('belonging to the clergy'). Because members of the clergy were the primary literate class in medieval Europe, the word broadened from meaning a churchman to meaning a scholar, scribe, or record-keeper.