# clerk

Pronunciation: US say "KLURK" /klɝk/; say "KLAHK" UK /klɑːk/, AUS /klɐːk/

## Noun

1. A person employed to keep records, manage accounts, handle correspondence, and perform similar office work.
   - Simple: A person whose job is to keep records, handle papers, and do other office work.
   - _She spent ten years as a payroll clerk before moving into management._
   - _The county hired two new clerks to process a backlog of records._
2. A person who serves customers in a store or market; a salesclerk.
   - Simple: A person who helps customers in a store.
   - _The clerk rang up my groceries and bagged them quickly._
   - _Convenience store clerks often work alone on overnight shifts._
3. An assistant to a judge or lawyer who performs legal research, drafts documents, and helps prepare cases.
   - Simple: A person who helps a judge or lawyer with legal work and research.
   - _Supreme Court justices typically hire four clerks each year._
   - _He spent a year as a clerk at the federal courthouse before joining a firm._
4. A hotel employee who deals with guests, typically handling check-in, check-out, and requests at the front desk.
   - Simple: A person who works at a hotel desk and helps guests.
   - _The desk clerk upgraded our room after a mix-up with the reservation._
   - _Night clerks at small hotels often handle security and luggage as well._
6. In a legislature or one of its chambers, the senior official who advises on law and usually also keeps the record of each sitting.
   - Simple: The top legal advisor to a group of lawmakers, who also writes down what happens in meetings.
   - _The clerk advised the speaker that the amendment was out of order._
   - _Clerks of both chambers met to agree on the bill's final official text._
7. A member who facilitates a Quaker meeting for business affairs, helping the group reach a shared decision.
   - Simple: The person who leads a Quaker business meeting and writes down what the group decides.
   - _The clerk sensed the meeting was not yet in unity and set the question aside._
   - _Friends appointed a new clerk at their annual business meeting._

## Verb

5. To work as a clerk, for example in a shop or office or as an assistant to a judge.
   - Simple: To do the job of a clerk, such as keeping records or helping customers.
   - _He clerked in his father's shop before opening his own._
   - _Many law students clerk for judges during the summer._
8. To gather the details of a newly admitted patient at the first assessment, mainly by taking a full history and examining them.
   - Simple: To gather information about a new patient by asking about their health and examining them.
   - _Every new admission must be clerked before the attending physician's review._
   - _Interns clerk each new patient and present the case at morning rounds._

## Noun

9. A cleric or clergyman; an ordained minister of the church. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A priest or other minister who leads services in a church.
   - _The bishop appointed a young clerk to the rural parish._
   - _Every clerk in the diocese was summoned to the cathedral._
10. In the Church of England, a layman who assists in the church service, especially by reading the responses. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A person, not a priest, who helps in church services by reading the answers aloud.
   - _From his desk below the pulpit, the clerk gave out the psalm._
   - _The old clerk had led the responses in that church for forty years._
11. A scholar; a learned person. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who has studied a lot and knows much from books.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English and Old English clerc, from Late Latin clēricus ('priest, clergyman', also more generally 'learned man'), which came from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, 'of the clergy'), from κλῆρος (klêros, 'lot, inheritance', originally a shard used in casting lots). It is a doublet of cleric.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/clerk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).