Barnacle Definition
A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to submerged surfaces such as tidal rocks or the bottoms of ships.
Origin of Barnacle
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From Middle English barnakille, from earlier bernake, bernekke, from Old French bernaque (“barnacle”), from Gaulish *barenica (“limpet”) (compare Welsh brennig, Irish báirneac), from *barenos (“rock”) (compare Old Irish barenn (“boulder”)); for sense development, compare Ancient Greek λέπας (lépas, “rock”) which gave λεπάς (lepás, “limpet”).
From Wiktionary
Middle English barnacle goose from Old French bernacle from Medieval Latin bernacula diminutive of bernaca of unknown origin
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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