asperitas means A cloud formation characterized by wavy undulations in the cloud base. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
asperitas is pronounced /æsˈpɛɹɪtas/.
Why “asperitas” is a great word
ASPERITAS — [Noun] A cloud formation characterized by dramatic, wavelike, and chaotic undulations on the cloud's underside. From the Latin asperitās ('roughness, harshness'), from asper ('rough, harsh'), a word of unknown origin; the term was formally proposed for cloud classification in 2009 by Gavin Pretor-Pinney of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Unlike undulatus (which describes broader, gentler, parallel cloud waves) or asperity (which denotes a harshness of manner or a surface's rough feature), asperitas is the specific adoption of a Latin roughness into the sky's vocabulary. It is the turbulent sea inverted over a prairie town, the ominous, sculpted ceiling of a world turned upside-down, or the roiling texture of a tempest-tossed ocean seen from below—a captured moment of atmospheric violence, rendered with the serene permanence of a sculpture.
Etymology
From Latin asperitās, replacing the older undulatus asperatus. Doublet of asperity.
noun
- A cloud formation characterized by wavy undulations in the cloud base.