means the warm sense of closeness and unity that comes from being with people you belong to, sharing space, time, and care.

from Built from the everyday English word "together" — itself from Old English "togædere," a fusion of "to" and "gædere," meaning "to gather," a cousin of "gather" and "good" in the sense of fitting or joining well — capped with the noun-making suffix "-ness," which turns a quality into a thing you can name. So at its root it literally means the state of being gathered as one.