Part 689

<syn>Syn. -- Acrimony; moroseness; crabbedness; harshness; sourness; tartness. See <er>Acrimony</er>.</syn>

<h1>Aspermatous</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>A*sper"ma*tous</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Gr. <?/ priv. + <?/, <?/, seed.]</ety> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>Aspermous.</def>

<h1>Aspermous</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>A*sper"mous</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Gr. <?/; <?/ priv. + <?/ seed.]</ety> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>Destitute of seeds; aspermatous.</def>

<h1>Asperne</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>A*sperne"</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aspernari</ets>; <ets>a</ets> (<ets>ab</ets>) + <ets>spernari</ets>.]</ety> <def>To spurn; to despise.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Sir T. More.</i>

<h1>Asperous</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>As"per*ous</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[See <er>Asper</er>, <tt>a.</tt>]</ety> <def>Rough; uneven.</def>

<i>Boyle.</i>

<h1>Asperse</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>As*perse"</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Aspersed</er> <tt>(#)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Aspersing</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[L. <ets>aspersus</ets>, p. p. of <ets>aspergere</ets> to scatter, sprinkle; <ets>ad + spargere</ets> to strew. See <er>Sparse</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything, or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust.</def>

<i>Heywood.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to slander or calumniate; <as>as, to <ex>asperse</ex> a poet or his writings; to <ex>asperse</ex> a man's character.</as></def>

<blockquote>With blackest crimes <b>aspersed</b>. <i>Cowper.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify.</syn> <usage> -- To <er>Asperse</er>, <er>Defame</er>, <er>Slander</er>, <er>Calumniate</er>. These words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the character of another. To <i>asperse</i> is figuratively to cast upon a character hitherto unsullied the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it offensive or loathsome. To <i>defame</i> is to detract from a man's honor and reputation by charges calculated to load him with infamy. <i>Slander</i> (etymologically the same as <i>scandal</i>) and <i>calumniate</i>, from the Latin, have in common the sense of circulating reports to a man's injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men <i>asperse</i> their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they <i>defame</i> by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair fame; they <i>slander</i> or <i>calumniate</i> by spreading injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying slight faults into serious errors or crimes.</usage>

<h1>Aspersed</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>As*persed"</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <fld>(Her.)</fld> <def>Having an indefinite number of small charges scattered or strewed over the surface.</def>

<i>Cussans.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Bespattered; slandered; calumniated.</def>

<i>Motley.</i>

<h1>Asperser</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>As*pers"er</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>One who asperses; especially, one who vilifies another.</def>

<h1>Aspersion</h1> <Xpage=89>

<hw>As*per"sion</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aspersio</ets>, fr. <ets>aspergere</ets>: cf. F. <ets>aspersion</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A sprinkling, as with water or dust, in a literal sense.</def>

<blockquote>Behold an immersion, not and <b>aspersion</b>. <i>Jer. Taylor.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The spreading of calumniations reports or charges which tarnish reputation, like the bespattering of a body with foul water; calumny.</def>