1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Bernicle  \Ber"ni*cle\,  n.  [OE.  bernak  bernacle;  cf  OF  bernac 
  prob.  fr  LL  bernacula  for  hibernicula  bernicula  fr 
  Hibernia;  the  birds  coming  from  Hibernia  or  Ireland.  Cf  1st 
  {Barnacle}.] 
  A  bernicle  goose.  [Written  also  {barnacle}.] 
 
  {Bernicle  goose}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  goose  ({Branta  leucopsis}),  of 
  Arctic  Europe  and  America.  It  was  formerly  believed  that 
  it  hatched  from  the  cirripeds  of  the  sea  ({Lepas}),  which 
  were  therefore,  called  barnacles,  goose  barnacles,  or 
  Anatifers  The  name  is  also  applied  to  other  related 
  species.  See  {Anatifa}  and  {Cirripedia}. 

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