asperityn.
/əˈspɛrɪti/ 1. Unevenness of surface, roughness, ruggedness; concrete in plural sharp, rough, or rugged excrescences.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [noun]
unevenness1398
asperitya1492
ruggedness1530
raggedness1538
grabbedness1565
craggedness1598
implanitude1598
inequality1607
salebrosity1638
salebrity1656
salebrousness1727
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [noun] > roughness > rough part, object, or feature
roughOE
ragged?c1225
roughnessa1398
ruba1616
asperity1662
chicken skin1897
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. xxxvii. f. l/1 Fewe people wente for to see him, for the grete asprete or sharpnesse of the place.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 246 Iuyce of Mynte..taketh away the asperitie, and roughnesse of the tongue.
1662 H. More Antidote Atheism (1712) ii. xii. 84 To view the Asperities of the Moon through a Dioptrick-glass.
1743 tr. L. Heister Gen. Syst. Surg. I. ii. 396 If any splinters or Asperities of Bones present themselves.
1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 25 Almost all Delimaceæ have the leaves covered with asperities.
2. Roughness of savour, tartness, acridity, acrimony. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sourness or acidity > [noun] > bitterness or acridity
gallc1175
smartnessa1425
rhubarba1529
acrimony1542
acridity1547
amaritude1599
acerbity1608
acrity1619
asperity1620
acritude1650
acridness1702
bitterishness1702
crabbedness1715
acerbitude1727
amarulence1727
bitterness-
1620 T. Venner Via Recta v. 87 Very good for the asperity and siccity of the stomacke.
1667 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 512 Esteeming the Mass of bloud by reason of its asperity..unfit for nutrition.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) 41 The asperity of tartarous salts.
3. Harshness of sound, grating quality. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [noun]
harshnessc1480
dissonance1598
raucedity1599
raucity1607
untunableness1611
disharmony1656
asperity1664
raucidity1669
inharmoniousness1768
tunelessness1881
untunefulness1881
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 239 The shrilness and asperity of the noise they make.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 88. ⁋12 Our language, of which the chief defect is ruggedness and asperity.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) 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. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > inelegance > [noun]
roughnessa1398
beggarliness1542
crabbedness1546
barbarousness1549
grossness1563
rusticity1565
barbarism1578
inconcinnity1616
ungracefulness1658
incuriosity1661
incomptness1669
uncouthness1672
unpoliteness1684
barbarity1706
inelegance1726
inelegancy1727
scabrousness1727
asperity1779
crudity1885
ineloquence1894
1779 S. Johnson Cowley in Wks. II. 66 Avoids with very little care either meanness or asperity.
1779 S. Johnson Philips in Wks. II. 293 Those asperities that are venerable in the Paradise Lost are contemptible in the Blenheim.
5.
a. figurative. Harshness to the feelings, rigour, severity; hence, hardship, difficulty. (The earliest sense; archaic except in sense 5b.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [noun]
tartnessc1000
asperity?c1225
hardship?c1225
smartness1340
duressc1400
straitnessc1460
hardlaikc1540
severeness1579
sorenessa1586
grievousness1611
severity1835
sting1860
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 261 Vilte & asperte..scheome & Pine..beoð þe twa laddre steolen. þet is up richt to heouene.
a1535 T. More Wks. (R.) 1218 (R.) To..minysh the vygour and asperite of the paynes.
1659 N. Hardy 1st Epist. John (1865) xlix. 318/1 This oil [of gladness]..mitigateth the asperity of affliction.
b. Bitter coldness, rigour, bleakness.
ΚΠ
1750 S. Johnson Rambler 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 plural harsh, embittered feelings.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > sourness or bitterness of temper > [noun]
gallc1175
sourness1482
fellc1494
acerbitya1538
tartness1548
acrimony1597
verjuice1598
vinegara1616
acidness1660
asperity1664
thorniness1674
acidity1687
acerbitude1727
acridity1753
vitriol1769
souredness1858
1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 554 Animosities, and asperities of mind about toys and trifles.
1757 S. Johnson Rambler No. 176. ⁋8 Quickness of resentment and asperity of reply.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby iii. 15 Demanded with much asperity what she meant.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.?c1225- to set naught or nought nothing by
- to set nether
- to set no price, littly at
- to set no store or price by
- to set not a cherry, curse, a fly, a haw, a mite, an onion, at, by, of
- to set not a cherry, curse, a fly, a haw, a mite, an onion, etc at, by, of
- to set not by
- to set off
- to set off one's rest
- to set on
- to set on a seat, a throne, on horseback
- to set on another's back
- to set on at cinque and sice
- to set on cinque and sice
- to set on delay
- to set on edge
- to set on etc legs
- to set on fear
- to set on fire
- to set on gog
- to set on ground
- to set on her legs
- to set on her mettle
- to set on high
- to set on his etc feet