Goodness is the quality of being morally good. Human goodness, out of the goodness of his heart, believe in goodness.
It also means the nourishing part of food — all the goodness is in the skin — which is a distinct and homely use. As an exclamation, goodness and goodness me are old euphemisms for God. Note that the word is Old English, good plus -ness, and has not changed.
1noungoodnessThe quality of being morally good.
“She believed in the basic goodness of people, even after everything that had happened.”
2nounnourishingThe nourishing part of food.
“Don't boil the vegetables too long, or all the goodness will be lost.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
goodness is a moral quality.
Old English godnes is good plus -ness. The exclamation is a euphemism avoiding the word God.
Proto-West Germanic
*gōdnassī — goodness
Old English
gōdnes — goodness; virtue; kindness
Middle English
goodnesse
English, today
goodness
From Middle English goodnesse, godnesse, from Old English gōdnes (“goodness; virtue; kindness”), from Proto-West Germanic gōdnassī (“goodness”), equivalent to good + ness. Cognate with Scots guidness (“goodness”), West Frisian goedens (“goodness”), Old High German guotnessī (“goodness”), Middle High German guotnisse (“goodness”), Russian годность (“suitability, fitness”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA