minor government official or functionary (old)
The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils. 吏 and 史 were originally written the same, but later an extra mark was added to distinguish them.
《說文》：“吏，治人者也。从一，从史，史亦聲。”