# clerk

> English word · Noun · IPA /klɑːk/ · frequency rank #7,108

## Definitions
1. One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
2. One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
3. One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
4. One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
5. One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker.
6. A facilitator of a Quaker meeting for business affairs.
7. In 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. 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).
9. A scholar.

## Etymology
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)).

## Easily confused with
- **cork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-cork)
- **click** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-click)
- **clock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-clock)
- **creek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-creek)
- **cloak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-cloak)
- **clink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-clink)
- **cleve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-cleve)
- **clerks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clerk-vs-clerks)
- **Cher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cher-vs-clerk)
- **cert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cert-vs-clerk)
- **Cleo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cleo-vs-clerk)
- **clem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clem-vs-clerk)
- **CERN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cern-vs-clerk)
- **check** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/check-vs-clerk)
- **clear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clear-vs-clerk)
- **clean** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clean-vs-clerk)
- **Clark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clark-vs-clerk)
- **cheek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cheek-vs-clerk)
- **Clara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clara-vs-clerk)
- **Clare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clare-vs-clerk)

## Common misspellings (8)
`cclerk`, `celrk`, `clekr`, `clerkk`, `clerrk`, `cllerk`, `clrek`, `lcerk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clerk