Forms: 3–5 asprete, 6 asperite, -tie, 6– ty. [a. OF. asprete (mod. âpreté):—L. asperitātem, f. asper rough: see -TY. Subseq. assimilated to the L. word.]
1. Unevenness of surface, roughness, ruggedness; concr. in pl. sharp, rough or rugged excrescences.
1491. Caxton, Vitas Patr. (W. de W.), I. xxxvii. 50 a/1. Fewe people wente for to see him, for the grete asprete or sharpnesse of the place.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, 246. Iuyce of Mynte … taketh away the asperitie, and roughnesse of the tongue.
1662. H. More, Antid. Ath., II. xii. (1712), 84. To view the Asperities of the Moon through a Dioptrick-glass.
1743. trans. Heister’s Surg., 396. If any splinters or Asperities of Bones present themselves.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 25. Almost all Delimaceæ have the leaves covered with asperities.
2. Roughness of savor, tartness, acridity, acrimony. arch.
1620. Venner, Via Recta, v. 87. Very good for the asperity and siccity of the stomacke.
1667. Phil. Trans., II. 512. Esteeming the Mass of bloud by reason of its asperity … unfit for nutrition.
1747. Berkeley, Siris, § 86 (T.). The asperity of tartarous salts.
3. Harshness of sound, grating quality. arch.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 239. The shrilness and asperity of the noise they make.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., No. 88, ¶ 12. Our language, of which the chief defect is ruggedness and asperity.
1774. J. Bryant, Mythol., I. 167. A place in Egypt, which he could not specify on account of its asperity.
4. Of literary style: Ruggedness, lack of polish, inelegance. arch.
1779. Johnson, Cowley, Wks. II. 66. Avoids with very little care either meanness or asperity. Ibid., Philips, ibid. II. 293. Those asperities that are venerable in the Paradise Lost are contemptible in the Blenheim.
5. fig. Harshiness to the feelings, rigor, severity; hence, hardship, difficulty. (The earliest sense; arch. exc. in b. Bitter coldness, rigor, bleakness.)
a. 1230. Ancr. R., 354. Vilte and asprete … scheome and pine … beoð þe two leddre stalen þet beoð upriht to þe heouene.
a. 1535. More, Wks., 1218 (R.). To … minysh the vygour and asperite of the paynes.
1659. Hardy, Serm., 1 John xlix. (1865), 318/1. This oil [of gladness] … mitigateth the asperity of affliction.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., No. 80, ¶ 4. The nakedness and asperity of the wintry world.
1866. Daily Tel., 16 Jan., 7/5. The great asperity of the climate in winter.
6. Harshness or sharpness of temper, esp. when displayed in tone or manner; crabbedness, bitterness, acrimony; in pl. harsh, embittered feelings.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., Apol. 554. Animosities, and asperities of mind about toys and trifles.
1757. Johnson, Rambl., No. 176, ¶ 8. Quickness of resentment and asperity of reply.
1838. Dickens, Nich. Nick., iii. (C. D. ed.), 13. Demanded with much asperity what she meant.
