capital city of Sweden; it arose mid-13c. from a fishing village; the second element in the name is holm "island" (see holm); the first is either stäk "bay" or stock "stake, pole." Related: Stockholmer.Stockholm Syndrome is from 1978, a psychologists' term; the name derives from the Aug. 23, 1973, violent armed robbery of Sveriges Kreditbank in Stockholm, 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 rescuers, that they could not explain.