Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Clerk

//klɑːk// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    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."

  2. 2
    an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts) wordnet
  3. 3
    One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.; A salesclerk; a person who serves customers in a store or market.
  4. 4
    a salesperson in a store wordnet
  5. 5
    One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.; A law clerk.
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.; An employee at a hotel who deals with guests.
  2. 7
    One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.; The chief legal advisor of a legislature or legislative chamber, who is usually also responsible for keeping minutes of sittings.
  3. 8
    A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs. Quakerism
  4. 9
    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). archaic

    "God save the King! Will no man say, amen? / Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, amen."

  5. 10
    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). dated
  6. 11
    A scholar. obsolete

    "13th century, Traditional carol, And all was for an appel, an appel that he toke/As clerkès finden written in their boke."

Verb
  1. 1
    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."

  2. 2
    work as a clerk, as in the legal business wordnet
  3. 3
    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."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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)).

Etymology 2

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)).

Etymology 3

Derived from the noun clerk

See also for "clerk"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: clerk