Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - asperity

 noun  (plural -ties)  Etymology: Middle English asprete, from Anglo-French asprete, from aspre rough, from Latin asper, from Old Latin *absperos, from ab- ab- + -speros; akin to Sanskrit apasphura repelling, Latin spernere to spurn — more at spurn  Date: 13th century  1. rigor, severity  2.  a. roughness of surface ; unevenness; also a tiny projection from a surface  b. roughness of sound  3. roughness of manner or of temper ; harshness asked with some ~ just what they were implying