The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Barbule \Bar"bule\, n. [L. barbula, fr. barba beard.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A very minute barb or beard. --Booth.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zool.) One of the processes along the edges of the barbs
of a feather, by which adjacent barbs interlock. See
Feather.
[1913 Webster]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
20 Moby Thesaurus words for "barbule":
antenna, barb, barbel, barrel, cat whisker, cilium, feeler,
filament, filamentule, palp, palpus, quill, shaft, tactile cell,
tactile corpuscle, tactile hair, tactile organ, tactile process,
tactor, vibrissa