The mechanics of a solid body is based on Hooke's law. The non-linearity of the stress-strain curve in cyclic loading begins at much lower stress values than at the static yield stress point. A sensitive measurement of hysteresis loops led to discovering the anelastic strain processes below the yield stress and also below the fatigue limit. In this paper, the anelasticity limit is defined -the limit between reversible and irreversible strains -which is in compliance with the fatigue damage cumulation.K e y w o r d s : anelasticity, cyclic strain, fatigue