This week’s theme
Verbing the noun

This week’s words
blazon
spitchcock
physic
troth
barnacle


This week’s comments
AWADmail 1121

Next week’s theme
No el

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(BAHR-nuh-kuhl)

MEANING:

noun:	1. Any marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to rocks, hulls, docks, whales, etc.
	2. Someone or something that clings.
verb intr.:	To cling in a persistent manner.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin bernaca, of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: noun 1227, verb 1863.

NOTES:

Earlier, a barnacle was a goose. Before it was known that geese migrated, people believed that they hatched from the shells of the marine animals we now call barnacles. This medieval folk belief may have arisen from the similarity in appearance between certain barnacles and the goose’s head and neck, and the fact that barnacle geese were rarely seen nesting.

USAGE:

“‘Who’s the blonde chick who barnacled herself onto your boyfriend?’ Scarlett whispered.”
Elizabeth SaFleur; It Was All The Pie’s Fault; Elizabeth SaFleur LLC; 2022.

See more usage examples of barnacle in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: