'cheaply-made' is a compound of 'cheap' and 'made'. 'cheap' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'céap', where 'céap' meant 'bargain' or 'trade'. 'made' is the past participle of 'make', which originates from Old English 'macian', where 'macian' meant 'to make' or 'to construct'.

'cheap' changed from the Old English word 'céap' (meaning 'bargain' or 'market') through Middle English forms such as 'chepe/chep' and eventually became the modern English word 'cheap'. 'made' developed as the past/past-participle form of Old English 'macian' and evolved into the modern form 'made'.

Initially, elements meant 'related to a bargain' ('cheap') and 'constructed' ('made'); over time the compound sense shifted to emphasize low cost and often inferior quality, so 'cheaply-made' now commonly means 'made cheaply (and therefore likely of poor quality)'.