hysteria
UK[hɪˈstɪəriə]US[hɪˈsteriə]
n
a state of extreme excitement, fear, or anger in which a person, or a group of people, loses control of their emotions and starts to cry, laugh, etc. in an uncontrolled way
n
(old-fashioned, offensive) a medical condition used in the past to describe women who showed extreme emotion that was considered unreasonable
Morpheme Breakdown
hyster
ia
hyster
uterus
ia
condition
Etymology
the word hysteria has a direct but problematic lineage from ancient greek medical theory. it originates from the greek word 'hystera' (ὑστέρα), meaning 'womb'. ancient physicians, notably hippocrates, believed that certain emotional disturbances and physical symptoms in women were caused by a 'wandering womb' moving within the body. the suffix '-ia', a common greek nominalizer for states or diseases, was added to form 'hysteria', literally meaning 'a condition of the uterus'. this biologically deterministic and sexist concept persisted for centuries in western medicine. while the term entered english in the 19th century, its modern abstract meaning of uncontrolled emotional excess stems directly from this outdated pathological model, which incorrectly localized the cause of certain behaviors to female anatomy.
Analysis
Structure: hyster (uterus) + ia (condition)
hyster is from greek 'hystera' meaning 'womb' or 'uterus'. ia is a greek suffix used to form nouns denoting a state, condition, or disease.
Examples
the news of the disaster caused mass hysteria in the coastal town.
his speech was designed to whip the crowd into a frenzy of patriotic hysteria.
the doctor dismissed her symptoms as mere hysteria, a common and regrettable diagnosis for women at the time.