The Collaborative International Dictionary
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 Americ
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.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A barnacle goose. 2 (context historical chiefly in the plural English) A form of torture in which the legs were crushed between pieces of wood.
Usage examples of "bernicle".
For several centuries there was prevalent over the whole of civilised Europe a most extraordinary superstition concerning the small Arctic bird resembling, but not so large as, the common wild goose, known as the barnacle or bernicle goose.