asprità

Forms

asprità f (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary takes it as inherited from Latin asperitās (“roughness”), from the accusative, and compares the learned borrowing asperità.^[1] The TLIO derives it within Italian, from Italian aspro + -ità, the way Wiktionary also analyses it on the surface.^[2][1] Tommaseo calls it the abstract noun of the adjective and compares the Latin noun.^[3]

The noun is formed from Latin asper (“rough”) + -tās.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 14th-century Florentine translation of Piero de' Crescenzi, with the sense “roughness to the touch”: it advises a decoction of psyllium contro all'asprità de' capelli, against rough hair.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo also quotes the forte asprità de' venti, the harshness of the winds, and marks the word as obsolete.^[3] Modern dictionaries list it only as a rare variant of asperità.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 14th century – Asprità appears in the Florentine translation of Piero de' Crescenzi.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) roughness, harshness; a rare variant of asperità.^[5][6][3][1]

Related words

• asperità
• asprezza
• Latin asperitas

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli