Asperity is a noun that refers to roughness.
The Latin word asper (AHH spur) means rough. This word took a lengthy journey through Anglo-French and Middle English and still exists today. It can be found nestled into words like exasperate as well as our word of the day.
My father survived a great deal of asperity before he succeeded in life, but he feels that his rough path to prosperity has given him a great deal of character.
Asperity is spelled ASPERITY.