Where does “barnacle” come from?

Barnacle comes from Middle English barnakille, from Middle English bernake, from Old Northern French bernaque, of unknown ultimate origin.

barnacle (English): A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia...

Definitions

  1. A marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia...

Ancestry of “barnacle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbarnakille—
2Middle Englishbernake—
3Old Northern Frenchbernaquebarnacle

Words derived from “barnacle”

Every word from Old Northern French bernaque →Every word from Middle English bernake →Every word from Middle English barnakille →