From Greek 'hystéra' (womb) — reflecting the ancient belief that female disturbances were caused by a wandering uterus.
Exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement; historically, a medical diagnosis attributed to a disorder of the uterus, applied almost exclusively to women.
From New Latin 'hysteria,' from Greek 'hystéra' (womb, uterus), from PIE *ud-tero- (abdomen, womb), from *ud- (up, out). The ancient Greeks, following Hippocrates, believed that many female emotional and physical symptoms were caused by the uterus wandering through the body — 'hysterical suffocation' occurred when the womb supposedly migrated upward and pressed on the chest. This gynecological theory persisted for over two millennia, until the nineteenth century recognized hysteria as a neurological or psychological condition
The words 'hysteria' and 'uterus' are cognates — both descend from PIE *ud-tero-. Greek took the form 'hystéra,' Latin took the form 'uterus,' and both ended up in English: 'hysteria' from the Greek branch, 'uterus' from the Latin branch. The surgical term 'hysterectomy' (removal of the uterus) preserves the Greek form in a modern medical compound.