clerk
/klɝk/noun, verb
clerk is spelled C-L-E-R-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, clerk means “One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of clerk is clerks.
How many letters and syllables are in clerk?
| Letters | 5: C-L-E-R-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is clerk?
Clerk appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce clerk?
- UK /klɑːk/
- US /klɝk/
- Australia /klɐːk/
Clerk has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-clerk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with clerk?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as clerk from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹk/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of clerk
- clerks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- clerking participle, present
- clerked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does clerk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
- 2
A salesclerk; a person who serves customers in a store or market.
- 3
A law clerk.
- 4
An employee at a hotel who deals with guests.
- 5
The chief legal advisor of a legislature or legislative chamber, who is usually also responsible for keeping minutes of sittings.
- 6
A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
- 7
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).
- 8
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).
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Clerk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | clérigo , escriturário, escrevente, secretário, empregado de escritório |
| Spanish | clérigo , auxiliar administrativo , encargado, tendero |
| French | greffier, greffière |
| German | Büroangestellte, Angestellte, Buchhalter, Bürokaufmann, Bürokauffrau, Gerichtsschreiber |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does clerk come from?
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)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).