An alternate or archaic spelling of barnacle, a small marine crustacean that attaches to rocks and ships.
Middle English variant of 'barnacle,' possibly influenced by folk etymology connecting it to 'berne' (a place) or confusion with similarly-spelled words; the standard form 'barnacle' became dominant.
Barnacles (and bernacles) were once thought to spontaneously generate young geese—this misconception persisted for centuries and led to the 'barnacle goose' legend!
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