/klɑːk/, /klɝk/, /klɐːk/
OriginFrom 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)).
- 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.”
“Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however”
“clerks; a brand of humanity which, as the literature from Dickens to Gogol makes only too clear, was hardly to be envied except perhaps for the privilege of public service, the security which allowed ”
- 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.
- QuakerismA facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
- archaicIn 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.”
- datedA 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).
- obsoleteA scholar.
“13th century, Traditional carol,
And all was for an appel, an appel that he toke/As clerkès finden written in their boke.”
- 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.”
“He turned to a more attentive audience, and found it in the young fellow they called The Iceman, because he clerked in the swell jewelry store around the corner, and was always there with the finger a”
“[…] for three years he had worked in the stinking labyrinth of the Mandalay bazaars, clerking for the rice merchants and sometimes stealing.”
- 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.”
“You should present a case you have clerked to a doctor (registrar or consultant) and discuss your choice of investigations and management.”
“The best way to get involved is to clerk new patients on the ward prior to the rounds and then present your clerkings to the person leading the round.”
Formsclerks(plural) · clark(alternative) · clerks(present, singular, third-person) · clerking(participle, present) · clerked(participle, past) · clerked(past) · Clerks(plural)