In a nutshell: The difference is merely a linguistic one. Usability - in the sense of ease of use and user-friendliness - is a relatively new term in Germany. There, it has primarily been introduced in the course of the development of the world wide web.
Especially in the United States, usability has been established for way more years. It is merely concerned with the process of developing usable products, such as software, devices or web contents. That process is referred to as Usability Engineering.
Ergonomics describe the characteristics of a product to be usable in an effective, efficient, and satisfactory way. The term originates from an academic environment, such as industrial psychology and product design.
Finally, usability and ergonomics attain the same goal: To design products for the users. If you want to learn how we achieve this aim, see our methods section.
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