Clerk (kl&etilde;rk; in Eng. klärk; 277),
n. [Either OF. clerc, fr. L.
clericus a priest, or AS. clerc, cleric,
clerk, priest, fr. L. clericus, fr. Gr.
klhriko`s belonging to the clergy, fr.
klh^ros 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".
Shak.
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.
&fist; 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.]
