hysteresis

American  

[his-tuh-ree-sis] / ˌhɪs təˈri sɪs /

noun

Physics.

1. the lag in response exhibited by a body in reacting to changes in the forces, especially magnetic forces, affecting it.

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.

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hysteresis British  

/ ˌhɪstəˈrɛtɪk, ˌhɪstəˈriːsɪs /

noun

1. physics the lag in a variable property of a system with respect to the effect producing it as this effect varies, esp the phenomenon in which the magnetic flux density of a ferromagnetic material lags behind the changing external magnetic field strength

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hysteresis Scientific  

/ hĭs′tə-rē′sĭs /

1. The dependence of the state of a system on the history of its state. For example, the magnetization of a material such as iron depends not only on the magnetic field it is exposed to but on previous exposures to magnetic fields. This “memory” of previous exposure to magnetism is the working principle in audio tape and hard disk devices. Deformations in the shape of substances that last after the deforming force has been removed, as well as phenomena such as supercooling, are examples of hysteresis.

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Other Word Forms

• hysteresial
  adjective
• hysteretic
  adjective
• hysteretically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of hysteresis

1795–1805; < Greek hystérēsis deficiency, state of being behind or late, hence inferior, equivalent to hysterē-, variant stem of hystereîn to come late, lag behind, verbal derivative of hýsteros coming behind + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

One major challenge is iron loss, also called magnetic hysteresis loss, which occurs when magnetic fields inside the motor repeatedly reverse direction.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

These compromises create the dead-stick handling, latency and hysteresis that typifies your average two-box people mover.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

"But inflation lags the economic cycle. The risk is that hysteresis forces in the inflation cycle keep central banks on a war path for too long, causing policy overshooting."

From Reuters • Oct. 5, 2022

Insolation-driven 100,000-year glacial cycles and hysteresis of ice-sheet volume.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

A major dynamic process is that um rises over time, contributing to the phenomenon of hysteresis.

From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Colignatus, Thomas