clerk

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A person who works in an office keeping records or accounts.

   The clerk assisted me with renewing my license.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who serves customers in a shop.

   The clerk rang up my groceries at the register.

3. 3
   verb

   To work as a clerk, especially assisting a judge or lawyer.

   She clerked for a senior judge after law school.

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)).

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