barnacle goose


noun
  1. a wild goose, Branta leucopsis, of northern Europe and Greenland.

Origin of barnacle goose

1
1760–70; earlier barnacle,Middle English bernacle; compare Middle French bernacle,New Latin bernacula, all derivative of earlier Middle English bernak, bernekke,Anglo-Latin bernaca,Old French bernaque, of uncertain origin

Words Nearby barnacle goose

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How to use barnacle goose in a sentence

  • God becomes man becomes fish becomes barnacle goose becomes featherbed mountain.

    Ulysses | James Joyce
  • This barnacle-goose tree was a great article of faith with our ancestors in the Middle Ages.

    Myth-Land | F. Edward Hulme
  • Nevertheless, in France, the barnacle goose may be eaten on fast-days by virtue of this old belief in its marine origin.

  • The barnacle goose is a well-known bird, and is eaten on fast-days in France, by virtue of this old belief in its marine origin.

  • Some would have him to be a barnacle goose, others a dab-chick or coot—none of which can fairly be classed as aviculæ small birds.

    Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln | Charles L. Marson

British Dictionary definitions for barnacle goose

barnacle goose

noun
  1. a N European goose, Branta leucopsis, that has a black-and-white head and body and grey wings

  2. a former name for brent goose

Origin of barnacle goose

1
C13 bernekke, related to Late Latin bernaca, from the belief that the goose developed from a shellfish; ultimate origin obscure

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