noun
government official; public official
Archaic term for a low- to mid-ranking government official in historical contexts. In modern Japanese, it appears mainly in historical texts or set expressions like 官吏 (かんり).
江戸時代の吏は、現代の公務員とは役割が異なる。
The government officials of the Edo period had different roles from modern civil servants.
官吏 is the more common compound meaning 'government official' and is still used in formal contexts, while 吏 alone is archaic.
公務員 is the modern standard term for 'civil servant' or 'public official', replacing the archaic 吏.
The kanji 吏 originally referred to a minor official in ancient China. In Japanese, it was used historically for government clerks and low-ranking officials, but the standalone word is now archaic.