/hi ster"ik/ , n.
1. Usually, hysterics . a fit of uncontrollable laughter or weeping; hysteria.
2. a person subject to hysteria.
adj.
3. hysterical.
[ 1650-60; hystericus hysterikós, suffering in the womb, hysterical (reflecting the Greeks' belief that hysteria was peculiar to women and caused by disturbances in the uterus); see HYSTERO-, -IC ]