Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hysteria” come from?

Hysteria derives from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός, ultimately from ὑστέρα meaning uterus, connected to ὕστερος and Proto-Indo-European údteros.

hysteria (English): Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable...

Definitions

  1. Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable...

Ancestry of “hysteria”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latinhysteria—
2Latinhystericushysterical
3Ancient Greekὑστερικόςsuffering in the uterus, hysterical; relating to...
4Ancient Greek-ικόςof or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic
5Ancient Greek-κόςforms adjectives with the sense of 'of or...
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “hysteria”

  • ecohysteria
  • 歇斯底里
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →