clerk

Meanings

Noun

• One who occupationally works with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
• A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
• In the Church of England, the layman that assists in the church service, especially in reading the responses (also called parish clerk).
• 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).
• A scholar.

Verb

• To act as a clerk, to perform the duties or functions of a clerk

Related

Similar words

• register
• registrar
• scribe
• secretary

Origin

• From Middle English clerc, from Old English clerc, from Late Latin clēricus ("a priest, clergyman, cleric", also generally "a learned man, clerk"), from Ancient Greek κληρικός ("(adj. in church jargon) of the clergy"), from κλῆρος. cleric.