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Webster 1913 Edition
Clerk
Clerk
(klẽrk; in Eng. klärk; 277)
, Noun.
[Either OF.
clerc
, fr. L. clericus
a priest, or AS. clerc
, cleric
, clerk, priest, fr. L. clericus
, fr. Gr. κληρικόσ
belonging to the clergy, fr. κλῆροσ
lot, allotment, clergy; cf. Deut. xviii. 2. Cf. Clergy
.] 1.
A clergyman or ecclesiastic.
[Obs.]
All persons were styled
clerks
that served in the church of Christ. Ayliffe.
2.
A man who could read; a scholar; a learned person; a man of letters.
[Obs.]
“Every one that could read . . . being accounted a clerk.” Blackstone.
He was no great
clerk
, but he was perfectly well versed in the interests of Europe. Burke.
3.
A parish officer, being a layman who leads in reading the responses of the Episcopal church service, and otherwise assists in it.
[Eng.]
Hook.
And like unlettered
clerk
still cry “Amen”. Shakespeare
4.
One employed to keep records or accounts; a scribe; an accountant;
as, the
. clerk
of a court; a town clerk
The
clerk
of the crown . . . withdrew the bill. Strype.
☞ In some cases, clerk is synonymous with secretary. A clerk is always an officer subordinate to a higher officer, board, corporation, or person; whereas a secretary may be either a subordinate or the head of an office or department.
5.
An assistant in a shop or store.
[U. S.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Clerk
CLERK
, n.1.
A clergyman, or ecclesiastic; a man in holy orders.2.
A man that can read.Everyone that could read--being accounted a clerk.
3.
A man of letters; a scholar.The foregoing significations are found in the English laws, and histories of the church; as in the rude ages of the church, learning was chiefly confined to the clergy. In modern usage.
4.
A writer; one who is employed in the use of the pen, in an office public or private, for keeping records, and accounts; as the clerk of a court. In some cases clerk is synonymous with secretary; but not always. A clerk is always an officer subordinate to a higher officer, board, corporation or person; whereas, a secretary may be either a subordinate officer, or the head of an office or department.5.
A layman who is the reader of responses in church service.Definition 2024
clerk
clerk
English
Noun
clerk (plural clerks)
- (archaic) A cleric or clergyman.
- One who occupationally works with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
- 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
- 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, understood him very well.
- 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
- (Quakerism) A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
- (archaic) In the Church of England, the layman that assists in the church service, especially in reading the responses (also called parish clerk).
- 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 4 scene 1:
- God save the King! Will no man say, amen? / Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, amen.
- 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 4 scene 1:
Related terms
Translations
one working with records etc.
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Verb
clerk (third-person singular simple present clerks, present participle clerking, simple past and past participle clerked)
- To act as a clerk, to perform the duties or functions of a clerk
- 1934, George Orwell, Burmese Days, Chapter 1,
- […] for three years he had worked in the stinking labyrinth of the Mandalay bazaars, clerking for the rice merchants and sometimes stealing.
- 1956, Jean Stafford, "A Reading Problem" in The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1984, p. 332,
- In the winter, they lived in a town called Hoxie, Arkansas, where Evangelist Gerlash clerked in the Buttorf drugstore and preached and baptized on the side.
- The law school graduate clerked for the supreme court judge for the summer.
- 1934, George Orwell, Burmese Days, Chapter 1,