Stockholm syndrome

 Origin

Stockholm syndrome

 
noun Psychiatry.
an emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival.
Origin:
after an incident in Stockholm in 1973, during which a bank employee became romantically attached to a robber who held her hostage
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Stockholm syndrome is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
Stockholm syndrome
 
—n
a psychological condition in which hostages or kidnap victims become sympathetic towards their captors
 
[C20: after a group of hostages in Stockholm in 1973]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Stockholm Syndrome
1978, a psychologists' term; the name derives from the Aug. 23, 1973, violent armed robbery of Sveriges Kreditbank in Stockholm, Sweden, after which four bank employees were held hostage in a vault for more than five days. The hostages developed a dramatic attachment to their abuser, and a fear of would-be
EXPAND
rescuers, that they could not explain. The city arose mid-13c. from a fishing village; the second element in the name is holm "island;" the first is either stäk "bay" or stock "stake, pole."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

Stockholm syndrome Stock·holm syndrome (stŏk'hōlm', -hōm')
n.
A phenomenon in which a hostage begins to identify with and grow sympathetic to his or her captor.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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