clerk
English · Thesaurus
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clerk¹
- /klɑːk/ UK
- /klɝk/ US
- /klɐːk/ Australia
- /klɜːk/ Australia
Sounds like Clark (some accents) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)k, -ɑː(ɹ)k
Where it comes from
From Middle English clerc, from Old English clerc, from Late Latin clēricus (“priest, clergyman, cleric”, also generally “learned man, clerk”), from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “of the clergy”, adj. in church jargon), from κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, inheritance”, originally “shard used in casting lots”). Doublet of cleric.
Compare typologically Russian дьяк (dʹjak) (akin to дья́кон (dʹjákon)).
noun clerks · clark
- One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker. As office boy I made such a mark That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
- A salesclerk; a person who serves customers in a store or market.
- A law clerk.
- An employee at a hotel who deals with guests.
- The chief legal advisor of a legislature or legislative chamber, who is usually also responsible for keeping minutes of sittings.
- A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
- In the Church of England, the layman that assists in the church service, especially in reading the responses (also called parish clerk and Bible clerk). God save the King! Will no man say, amen? / Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, amen.
- A cleric or clergyman (the legal title for clergy of the Church of England is "Clerk in Holy Orders", still used in legal documents and cherished by some of their number).
- A scholar. 13th century, Traditional carol, And all was for an appel, an appel that he toke/As clerkès finden written in their boke.
verb clerks · clerking · clerked · clark
- To act as a clerk, to perform the duties or functions of a clerk. The law school graduate clerked for the supreme court judge for the summer.
- To assemble information about a patient during their initial assessment by actions such as a taking a detailed medical history and performing a physical examination. The best preparation for the long case is to clerk patients on the wards and in outpatients within a strict 60 minutes. This would include deciding on a policy of management.
Clerk²
Where it comes from
Derived from the noun clerk
proper noun Clerks
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: salesclerk, shop clerk, salesperson, salesman, seller, vendor, officer, employee, worker, registry, secretarial, secretary, assistant, secretariat, employed, registrar
Translations
Every language
noun one working with records etc.
| Español | auxiliar administrativo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 사무원 samuwon, 서기 seogi, 점원 jeomwon |
| 日本語 | 事務員 jimuin, 店員 ten'in, 書記 shoki |
| 中文 | 書記 /书记 shūjì, 店員 /店员 diànyuán, 營業員 /营业员 yíngyèyuán, 文員 /文员 wényuán |
| हिन्दी | क्लर्क klark, बाबू bābū, मुंशी muñśī, मुहर्रिर muharrir |
| Kiswahili | karani |
| Português | escriturário, escrevente, secretário, empregado de escritório |
| Français | greffier, greffière |
| Deutsch | Büroangestellte, Angestellte, Buchhalter, Bürokaufmann, Bürokauffrau, Gerichtsschreiber |
| Italiano | impiegato, impiegata |
| Ελληνικά | υπάλληλος ypállilos |
| Română | secretar, birocrat, funcționar |
| Русский | клерк klerk, чино́вник činóvnik, чино́вница činóvnica, слу́жащий slúžaščij, слу́жащая slúžaščaja, делопроизводи́тель deloproizvodítelʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | nhân viên văn phòng, nhân viên văn thư, người thư kí |
| العربية | مُوَظَّف muwaẓẓaf, مُوَظَّفَة muwaẓẓafa |
| עברית | פָּקִיד pakíd, פקידה pkida |
Talk about this word "clerk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/clerk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. clerk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/clerk "clerk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/clerk.Cite this
@misc{clerk_2026,
title = {clerk},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/clerk},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
