Etymology of "hysteresis"

Wikipedia (correctly IMHO) defines hysteresis as

the dependence of the output of a system not only on its current input, but also on its history of past inputs. The dependence arises because the history affects the value of an internal state. To predict its future outputs, either its internal state or its history must be known.

But then gives the etymology as

derived from ὑστέρησις, an ancient Greek word meaning "deficiency" or "lagging behind". It was coined around 1890 by Sir James Alfred Ewing to describe the behaviour of magnetic materials.

The Online Etymology Dictionary agrees, giving

1805, from Greek hysteresis "a coming short, a deficiency."

But this doesn't jibe with the etymology of hysteria, hysterical, or hysterectomy, all of which are based on the Greek root meaning "uterus" or "womb". (See, for example:

• 'The words "hysterical" and "hysterectomy" share the same root in the word for "uterus".'
• 'from the Greek ὑστέρα hystera "uterus".'
• 'the term hysteria ... stems from the Greek cognate of uterus, ὑστέρα (hystera).'
• 'from Latin hystericus "of the womb," from Greek hysterikos "of the womb, suffering in the womb," from hystera "womb" (see uterus)

So what gives? I can conceive of at least two theories: (1) someone was embarrassed about the existence of bodily functions and so made up a bogus definition for ὑστέρησις, or (2) the ancient Greeks were so misogynistic that "having a womb" became idiomatic for "deficient."

What is the real etymology of the word hysteresis?

I think you're probably going to get folk etymologies for this one.

If you trace this back,

• "hysteresis" <== Gr. "ὑστέρησις" <== Gr. "ὑστερέω" <== Gr. "ὕστερος".
• "hysteria" <== L. "hystericus" <== Gr. "ὑστερικός" <== Gr. "ὑστέρα"

Gr. "ὕστερος" is the masculine form of Gr. "ὑστέρα", so they are practically the same word. I'm not terribly familiar with Greek, but Wiktionary indicates that the word can mean "latter", "next", "inferior".

One can try the following derivations on for size.

• It refers to the womb because it is the source of the "next" or "latter" generation.
• It refers to the womb because it identifies one of the "inferior" gender (as women were viewed in ancient Greece).

I don't think there is a conspiracy. The Oxford English Dictionary's etymology for "hysteresis" is much the same: "Greek ὑστέρησις a coming short, deficiency, < ὑστερεῖν to be behind, come late, etc., < ὕστερος late."

You can see that the idea of deficiency derived from the idea of lateness, not the idea of a womb. Liddell and Scott explain that ὕστερος means "latter", "last" and is cognate with Sanskrit words meaning "up", "higher", "highest", "latest". ( http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=u(/steros)

ὑστέρα 'womb' or 'ovary of animals' seems to be related, though. Liddell and Scott explain it as follows: "Lit. the upper or protruding part... or perh. the back part". ( http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Du(ste%2Fra )