Hysteron

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The second or later element in a pair or sequence, often contrasted with what comes before it
2. The latter component of two related things, positioned after or following the first
3. The rear or subsequent part when two things are arranged in order or opposition

Etymology: In ancient Greek, "hysteros" meant "latter" or "coming after," and the neuter form "hysteron" survives in the rhetorical term "hysteron proteron," literally "the latter placed first," for reversing the natural order of cause and effect, as in "let's eat and then wash the dishes" said in the wrong sequence. The word's sense of lagging behind carries into a later meaning. The physics term grows from "hysteresis," a Greek-derived word for lagging behind or coming late, which describes a system whose current state depends on its past. The ending "-on" is a suffix that physicists commonly use for particles and units, such as "electron" and "photon." The combination names a basic element in models of hysteresis, where each element switches between states at its own thresholds.