Definition of "hysteresis" [‖Hys•te•re•sis]

• The lagging of an effect behind its cause, as when the change in magnetism of a body lags behind changes in the magnetic field. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Such systems often exhibit hysteresis, that is multiple states for the same system parameters but which state you are in depends on history, i.e., initial conditions."
• "The ice sheet's so-called hysteresis, or resistance to change, is now in doubt."
• "This intermediate input region is a deadspace where there is no response, a property called hysteresis, it is like backlash in a mechanical linkage."