— hysteretic /his'teuh ret"ik/ , hysteresial /his'teuh ree"see euhl/ , adj. — hysteretically , adv.
/his'teuh ree"sis/ , n. Physics.
1. the lag in response exhibited by a body in reacting to changes in the forces, esp. magnetic forces, affecting it. Cf. magnetic hysteresis .
2. the phenomenon exhibited by a system, often a ferromagnetic or imperfectly elastic material, in which the reaction of the system to changes is dependent upon its past reactions to change.
[ 1795-1805; hystéresis deficiency, state of being behind or late, hence inferior, equiv. to hystere-, var. s. of hystereîn to come late, lag behind, v. deriv. of hýsteros coming behind + -sis -SIS ]