tendresse
noun
ten·dresse täⁿ-ˈdres 
: fondness
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web This remarkable and wise book is actually two memoirs, braided together with such tendresse that readers will come to believe the ironic title in earnest. 
Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2022 Zuo correctly spelled tendresse, a noun meaning fondness, then spelled tibia, a bone between the knee and ankle. City News Service, Orange County Register, 31 May 2017
Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2022 Zuo correctly spelled tendresse, a noun meaning fondness, then spelled tibia, a bone between the knee and ankle. City News Service, Orange County Register, 31 May 2017 Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French, "tenderness," going back to Old French, from tendre tender entry 1 + -esse, suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives, going back to Latin -itia (with phonetic development as if from -icia) — more at -ice
Note: Attested in Middle English as a borrowing from Anglo-French, but the word is rare or non-existent in Early Modern English; reborrowed from French in the 18th century.-
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above