\As"per\ ([a^]s"p[~e]r), a. [OE. aspre, OF. aspre, F.
[^a]pre, fr. L. asper rough.]
Rough; rugged; harsh; bitter; stern; fierce. [Archaic] ``An
asper sound.'' --Bacon.

\As"per\ ([a^]s"p[~e]r), n. [L. spiritus asper rough
breathing.] (Greek Gram.)
The rough breathing; a mark ([asper]) placed over an initial
vowel sound or over [rho] to show that it is aspirated, that
is, pronounced with h before it; thus "ws, pronounced h[=o]s,
"rh`twr, pronounced hr[=a]"t[=o]r.

\As"per\, n. [F. aspre or It. aspro, fr. MGr. 'a`spron,
'a`spros, white (prob. from the whiteness of new silver
coins).]
A Turkish money of account (formerly a coin), of little
value; the 120th part of a piaster.