means The quality of being gentle, soft, and caring — both in touch and in feeling — and the warmth one shows toward someone who matters.

from From the Latin 'tener,' meaning soft, delicate, or young — the same root behind 'tender' (as in a tender shoot or tender meat). It traveled through Old French 'tendre' before settling into English, where 'tenderness' grew the '-ness' suffix to name the state of being soft. The bodily sense (a bruise that's 'tender to the touch') and the emotional sense (a 'tender' look) have shared this gentle root all along — softness of flesh and softness of heart, never far apart.