a mental condition in which somebody keeps pretending that they are ill in order to receive hospital treatment 闵希豪生综合征（表现为幻想生病以便求医或住院的精神障碍） Word Origin1950s: named after the character Baron Munchausen, who was the hero of a book of fantastic travellers' tales (1785) written in English by a German, Rudolph Erich Raspe.