asper

See also: Asper and as per

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæspə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæspɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English aspre, from Old French aspre (modern French âpre), from Latin asper (“rough”).

Alternative forms

• aspre

Adjective

asper (comparative more asper, superlative most asper)

1. (obsolete) Rough or harsh; severe, stern, serious.
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     An asper sound.

Noun

asper (uncountable)

1. (phonetics, obsolete) Rough breathing; a mark (#) indicating that part of a word is aspirated, or pronounced with h before it.

Derived terms

• spiritus asper

Etymology 2

From Middle English asper, from Middle French aspre or Italian aspro, both from Ancient Greek ἄσπρον (áspron), from neuter of ἄσπρος (áspros, “white”), from Latin asper (“rough, newly minted”).

Alternative forms

• aspron

Noun

asper (plural aspers)

1. (historical) Any one of several small coins, circulated around the eastern Mediterranean area from the 12th to 17th centuries.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     And for ten Aspers you shall daily finde some amongst them, that will give themselves a deepe gash with a Scimitarie, either in their armes or thighes.

Anagrams

• rapes, après, Pears, prase, Spera, presa, apers, spaer, RESPA, pears, Spare, après-, reaps, præs., apres, parse, Rapes, Earps, Presa, aprés, spear, Spear, Peras, spare, pares, sarpe

Latin

Etymology

Probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂esp- (“to cut”), also present in Ancient Greek ἀσπίς (aspís, “shield”) and Hittite [script needed] (ḫasp-, “to cut down”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈas.per/, [ˈäs̠pɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈas.per/, [ˈäsper]

Adjective

asper (feminine aspera, neuter asperum, comparative asperior, superlative asperrimus, adverb asperē); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. rough, uneven, coarse
2. unrefined, rude
3. sharp, newly minted
4. harsh, bitter, fierce

   Synonyms: ācer, acerbus, frāctus

   odia aspera ― bitter hatred

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	asper	aspera	asperum		asperī	asperae	aspera
genitive	asperī	asperae	asperī		asperōrum	asperārum	asperōrum
dative	asperō	asperae	asperō		asperīs
accusative	asperum	asperam	asperum		asperōs	asperās	aspera
ablative	asperō	asperā	asperō		asperīs
vocative	asper	aspera	asperum		asperī	asperae	aspera

Derived terms

• asperē
• asperitās
• asperiter
• asperitūdō
• asperō
• asperūgō
• perasper
• subasper

 

Descendants

• Albanian: ashpër
• Aromanian: ascuru
• Asturian: aspru, ásperu
• Catalan: aspre
• French: âpre
• Galician: áspero
• → Ancient Greek: ἄσπρος (áspros)
  • Greek: άσπρο (áspro), άσπρος (áspros)
  • → English: aspron
  • → Serbo-Croatian: ȁspra
• Italian: aspro
• Occitan: aspre
• Portuguese: áspero
• Romanian: aspru
• Sardinian: aspru, aspu
• Spanish: áspero

References

1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “asper”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 58

Further reading

• “asper”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “asper”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• asper in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) rough and hilly ground: loca aspera et montuosa (Planc. 9. 22)
    
• “asper”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “asper”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Anagrams

• pares

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

asper m or f

1. indefinite plural of asp