Fondness is a warm liking or affection for someone or something. It suggests gentle, positive feelings rather than strong passion.
“Fondness” comes from “fond,” which in Middle English meant “foolish” or “silly,” from Old French “fondre,” to be foolish. Over time, the sense softened into “foolishly loving,” then simply “loving” or “affectionate.”
The journey from “foolish” to “affectionate” hints that love has always been seen as a little irrational. When you have a fondness for something, you might like it more than logic alone would explain.
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