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definitions

barnacle goose

|

noun

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

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Nearby words

  1. barn swallow,
  2. barn-door skate,
  3. barnabas,
  4. barnaby,
  5. barnacle,
  6. barnard,
  7. barnard's star,
  8. barnard, christiaan neethling,
  9. barnard, edward emerson,
  10. barnard, frederick augustus porter

Origin of barnacle goose

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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for barnacle goose

  • In France, the barnacle-goose may be eaten on fast days, by virtue of this old belief in its fishy origin.

    Folk-lore of Shakespeare|Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

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

    Myth-Land|F. Edward Hulme
British Dictionary definitions for barnacle goose

barnacle goose

noun

a N European goose, Branta leucopsis, that has a black-and-white head and body and grey wings
a former name for brent goose

Word Origin for barnacle goose

C13 bernekke, related to Late Latin bernaca, from the belief that the goose developed from a shellfish; ultimate origin obscure
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012