barnacle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a marine crustacean with a shell that attaches itself permanently to surfaces such as rocks or ship hulls

   The ship's hull was covered in barnacles after months at sea.

2. 2
   noun

   a person or thing that clings tenaciously, or an obstacle difficult to remove

   He was like a barnacle, never leaving her side.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Barnacle originally referred to the barnacle goose and appeared in English in the early Middle Ages, although its ultimate origin is unknown. Because the goose’s breeding grounds were once mysterious, people believed it hatched from the shellfish now called a barnacle, whose feathery filaments suggested plumage. The name was transferred to the shellfish in the late 16th century.

From Old French barnacle ('species of goose'), via Middle English bernacle; originally a type of goose, later transferred to the marine crustacean owing to a mistaken belief about its life cycle.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary