Mild, warm liking — and the one affection word that attaches as freely to things and activities as to people..
Mild, warm liking — and the one affection word that attaches as freely to things and activities as to people.
The lowest-intensity of the core affection terms, and the one most comfortable with non-human objects (“a fondness for jazz,” “a fondness for argument”) where love would be hyperbolic and tenderness impossible. A soft, partial liking, never the deep or passionate bond, often with a slightly indulgent or nostalgic flavor (“look back on it with fondness”). Near-synonymous with affection when directed at a person, but gentler and more casual.
From fond + -ness. Fond is late 14c. “foolish, silly,” from fonned, past participle of the obsolete verb fonne “be foolish.”
The family's clearest shift: fond moved from “foolish/insane” via “foolishly tender” to “having strong affection for” by the 1570s. Accordingly fondness moved from “foolishness, folly” (now obsolete) to “tender affection” and “a relish.” No reliable recent-generation shift.