Stockholm syndrome

Meanings

1. A psychological condition in which a hostage emotionally bonds to their captor.

1. To cause someone to become affected by Stockholm syndrome.

Etymology

Calque of Swedish Norrmalmstorgssyndrom. Named after the robbery of Kreditbanken at the Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm, Sweden in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. Originally, this term was directly translated from Swedish Norrmalmstorgssyndromet as the Norrmalmstorg syndrome, but later Norrmalmstorg was replaced with Stockholm, a word far more commonly known outside Sweden.