Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Barnacle |
BarnacleNoun1. Marine crustaceans with feathery food-catching appendages; free-swimming as larvae; as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces. 2. European goose smaller than the brant; breeds in the far north. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "barnacle" was first used: sometime in the early 13th century. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Barnacle The Solan goose. The strange tales of this creature have arisen from a tissue of blunders. The Latin pernacula is a "small limpet," and bernacula (Portuguese, bernaca; French, barnache) is the Scotch bren-clake or "Solan goose." Both words being corrupted into "barnacle," it was natural to look for an identity of nature in the two creatures, so it was given out that the goose was the offspring of the limpet. Gerard, in 1636, speaks of "broken pieces of old ships on which is found certain spume or froth, which in time breedeth into shells, and the fish which is hatched therefrom is in shape and habit like a bird." Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | BARNACLE. A good job, or snack easily got: also shellfish growing at the bottoms of ships; a bird of the goose kind; an instrument like a pair of pincers, to fix on the noses of vicious horses whilst shoeing; a nick name for spectacles, and also for the g. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A barnacle is a type of arthropod, in the class Crustacea and as such distantly related to the crabs and lobsters. However, barnacles are in the order Cirripidea. There are 1,220 barnacle species.
The barnacle spends its early life as part of the plankton, floating wherever the wind, waves, currentss, and tides send it, surrounded by a bivalve shell. It then settles down in an area where environmental cues indicate is a safe and productive environment. It sticks its legs in the air, and develops six hard plates to surround the body. For the rest of its life it is cemented to the ground, using the feathery legs to capture plankton and gametes when spawning. It is usually found in the intertidal zone.
Species
The Barnacle Goose gets its name from the ancient European belief that it grew from the bivalve (eggs and goslings of this species were never seen because it bred in the remote Arctic). As such, it counted as a fish, and could be eaten by Catholics on Fridays, when meat used to be forbidden.
- Sacculina
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Barnacle."
Synonyms: BarnacleSynonyms: barnacle goose (n), cerriped (n), cerripede (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Barnacle |
| English words defined with "barnacle": acorn barnacle, Acorn-shell, Anatifa, Anatiferous ♦ Balanoid, Balanus balanoides, Barnacle scale, Bernacle ♦ duck barnacle ♦ goose barnacle ♦ Kakaralli ♦ Lepadoid, Lepas fascicularis ♦ pedunculate ♦ rock barnacle ♦ Scutum, Sea acorn, sessile, stalked, Stalked barnacle, stalkless. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Past life as a barnacle. (Daria; writing credit: Glenn Eichler; Peggy Nicoll) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Barnacle Bill (1957) Beware of Barnacle Bill (1935) Barnacle Bill (1935) Mrs. Barnacle Bill (1934) Barnacle Bill (1930) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Random rocks and barnacle picked up on the beach at Gig Harbor. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Crepuscular Chair" by Brian Corll Commentary: "Barnacle encrusted plastic chair found on the beach." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| "Barnacle" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 67.86% of the time. "Barnacle" is used about 28 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 67.86% | 19 | 80,337 |
| Noun (proper) | 17.86% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Noun (common) | 14.29% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Total | 100.00% | 28 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "barnacle" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Barnacle | Last name | 100 | 88,114 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "barnacle": acorn barnacle ♦ Barnacle eater ♦ barnacle goose ♦ Barnacle scale ♦ duck barnacle ♦ goose barnacle ♦ rock barnacle ♦ root barnacle ♦ stalk barnacle ♦ stalked barnacle. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "barnacle": barnacle-encrusted, barnacle-like. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "barnacle"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | syze (eyeglass, eyeglasses, eyepiece, glass, glasses, goggles, lens, ocular, specs, spectacles), pincë (crimper, forceps, nippers, pincers, pincette, pinchers, pliers, tongs, wire cutter, wire cutters). (various references) | |
Arabic | كلابة لأنف الفرس, نظارات (glasses, spectacles), سمكة هدابية قشرية, البرنقيل نوع من الأوز, شخص دبق. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | очила (eyeglasses, glasses, goggles, specs, spectacles), арктическа прелетна птица, лепка (bur, leech, limpet). (various references) | |
Farsi | پوزه بندیامهاراسب(هنگام نعلبندی), نوعی صدف , سرسخت (Bullheaded, Diehard, Dogged, Dour, Headstrong, Intransigent, Inveterate, Obstinate, Recalcitrant, Refractory, Remorseless, Stark, Stubborn, Tenacious). (various references) | |
French | bernacle, lunettes (barnacles), crampon, anatife. (various references) | |
German | Ringelgans (brent goose), krebs (cancer, canker, crab, crawfish, crayfish, crustacean), klette (bind, bur, burdock, burr, limpet, nuisance). (various references) | |
Greek | στρείδι (cockle, mussel, oyster), βάλανος (glans), είδοσ οστρακόδερμου ύφαλων. (various references) | |
Hebrew | דג השבלול. (various references) | |
Hungarian | pipa (ló fékezésére), kullancs természetű ember, kullancs (tick, varmint), kagyló (clam, cockle, mussel, scallop, seashell, shell), csípõvas, csípővas. (various references) | |
Indonesian | remis, angsa (goose). (various references) | |
Italian | cirripede (cirripedes). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 亀の手 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かめのて. (various references) | |
Manx | guiy twoaie, bayrnag. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arnaclebay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | percevejo (bedbug, bug, chinch, thumbtack), luneta (binocular, lunette, telescope), craca (cannelure). (various references) | |
Russian | щипцы (curling irons, forceps, pliers, snuffers, tongs), кляп (gag), прилипала. (various references) | |
Scottish | giodhran (a barnacle), giùran (barnacle goose, gills of a fish). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | školjka (clam, cockleshell, seashell, shell, shell-work). (various references) | |
Spanish | percebe (twit). (various references) | |
Swedish | vitkindad gås, rankfoting, prutgås. (various references) | |
Turkish | yapışkan tip (gadfly, nudnik, old man of the sea, sticker), yaban kazı (greylag), kaya midyesi. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | щипці (crimper, crowbill, nipper, nippers, pincers, pliers, tongs), кляп (gag), окуляри (barnacles, glasses, peepers, specs, spectacles), затискач (clamp, clasp, cleat, clench, clinch, clip, cramp), закрутка, прилипати (adhere, clam, cleave, cling, glue), пенсне (nipper, nippers, pince nez), докучлива людина (molester, nuisance). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | mục kỉnh. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | cirri. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "barnacle": barnacled, barnacles. (additional references) | |
| |
"Barnacle" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: bairnacle, Banacek, barbacle, Bardacke, Barnaul, Barnault, barncle, Barndale, Barnesley, barnicle, Barnola. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "barnacle" (pronounced bÄ"rnukul) |
| 5 | -n u k u l | Chronicle, clinical, monocle, pinnacle. |
| 4 | -u k u l | aeronautical, agrochemical, allegorical, anarchical, anatomical, anthropological, article, biblical, biochemical, chemical, clavicle, clerical, commonsensical, coracle, cortical, cuticle, diacritical, domical, epochal, equivocal, etymological, farcical, follicle, geophysical, grammatical, hierarchical, hypothetical, impractical, spectacle, tentacle, maniacal, medical, meteorological, methodical, miracle, mythical, nautical, numerical, obstacle, Oracle, oratorical, particle, photochemical, polemical, political, pontifical, practical, quizzical, radical, receptacle, reciprocal, satirical, skeptical, typical, unequivocal. |
| 3 | -k u l | acoustical, alphabetical, analytical, ankle, antithetical, apolitical, archaeological, archeological, astrological, astronautical, astronomical, asymmetrical, atypical, autobiographical, bicycle, bifocal, biographical, biological, biomedical, biotechnological, botanical, brickle, buckle, cackle, categorical, cervical, chronological, chuckle, circle, classical, comical, conical, crackle, critical, cubicle, cycle, cyclical, cylindrical, cynical, debacle, dermatological, diabolical, dialectical, ducal, ecclesiastical, ecological, economical, ecumenical, egotistical, electrical, electrochemical, electromechanical, elliptical, empirical, encircle, encyclical, epidemiological, eschatological, ethical, ethnical, evangelical, fanatical, fecal, fickle, fiscal, focal, freckle, galenical, geographical, geological, geometrical, geopolitical, gonococcal, grackle, granduncle, graphical, gynecological, hackle, heckle, helical, heretical, heterocercal, historical, honeysuckle, Huckle, hypercritical, hypocritical, hysterical, icicle, identical, ideological, illogical, immunological, Sokol, sparkle, speckle, spherical, sprinkle, statistical, stereotypical, stickle, strategical, suckle, surgical, symmetrical, tabernacle, tackle, tactical, technical, technological, teleological, testicle, theatrical, theological, inimical, ironical, jackal, knuckle, lackadaisical, lexical, liturgical, local, logical, logistical, lyrical, magical, mathematical, matriarchal, mechanical, meikle, metallurgical, metaphorical, metaphysical, methodological, metrical, Mickle, morphological, motorcycle, muckle, musical, mystical, mythological, neoclassical, neurological, nickel, Nickle, Nicol, nonelectrical, nonpolitical, nonsensical, nonsurgical, nontechnical, ontological, optical, ornithological, paradoxical, pathological, patriarchal, pedagogical, periodical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pharmacological, philosophical, phonological, physical, physiological, pickle, popsicle, preclinical, problematical, prototypical, psychical, psychological, pumpernickel, puritanical, rabbinical, radiological, ramshackle, rankle, rascal, recycle, rhetorical, ruckle, runkle, sabbatical, semiclassical, semicylindrical, semitropical, serological, shackle, shekel, sickle, sociological, theoretical, tickle, tinkle, topical, toxicological, trickle, tricycle, tropical, twinkle, typographical, tyrannical, umbilical, uncle, uncritical, uneconomical, unethical, unicycle, unshackle, untypical, vehicle, vertical, viatical, virological, vocal, whimsical, Winkle, wrinkle, zoological. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: balancer. | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-e-l-n-r" | |
-1 letter: balance. | |
-2 letters: anlace, arable, arcane, carnal, lancer. | |
-3 letters: abler, acerb, alane, anear, areal, areca, arena, baler, banal, blare, blear, brace, cabal, caber, cable, canal, caner, carle, clean, clear, craal, crane, labra, lacer, lance, learn, nacre, rance, renal. | |
-4 letters: able, acne, acre, alae, alan, alar, alba, alec, anal, area, baal, bale, bane, bare, barn, bean. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-e-l-n-r" | |
+1 letter: balancers, barnacled, barnacles, rebalance. | |
+2 letters: candelabra, rebalanced, rebalances, tabernacle. | |
+3 letters: berascaling, blackhander, candelabras, candelabrum, chamberlain, hibernacula, increasable, intractable, overbalance, rebalancing, tabernacled, tabernacles, unreachable, untraceable. | |
+4 letters: blackhanders, candelabrums, chamberlains, contrastable, elasmobranch, incomparable, ineradicable, ineradicably, merchantable, microbalance, nonbacterial, overbalanced, overbalances, tabernacling, tabernacular, unbreachable, uncalibrated, uncapturable, uncharitable, unsearchable, unsearchably. | |
+5 letters: anaerobically, antibacterial, ascertainable, elasmobranchs, inappreciable, inappreciably, intracerebral, lamellibranch, microbalances, noncomparable, overbalancing, polycarbonate, recalibrating, recalibration, tractableness, unreclaimable. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
