/
klɑːk/
n.
- a person employed in an office or bank to keep records or accounts and to undertake other routine administrative duties.
- an official in charge of the records of a local council or court.
▸a senior official in Parliament.
▸a lay officer of a cathedral, church, or chapel.
-
(also desk clerk)
N. Amer. a hotel receptionist.
▸
(also sales clerk)
a shop assistant.
-
(also clerk in holy orders)
formal a member of the clergy.
- archaic a literate or scholarly person.
v.
N. Amer. work as a clerk.
Phrase
- clerk of the course
an official who assists the judges in horse racing or motor racing. - clerk of
(the)
works
Brit. a person who oversees building work in progress.
Derivative
- clerkess n. (chiefly Scottish).
- clerkish adj.
- clerkly adj.
- clerkship n.
Etymology
OE cleric, clerc, from eccles. L. clericus (see cleric); reinforced by OFr. clerc, from the same source.