clerk

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an employee who performs clerical work, such as keeps records or accounts

   The clerk assisted me with renewing my license.

2. 2
   verb

   to work as a clerk, as in the legal business

   I clerk at the courthouse downtown.

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   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.

5. 5
   noun

   A scholar.

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

6. 6
   verb

   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.

7. 7
   verb

   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.

8. 8
   noun

   a salesperson in a store

Etymology

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)).