'few-leaved' is a Modern English compound formed from 'few' + 'leaf' with the adjectival suffix '-ed'. 'few' originates from Old English 'fēawe' meaning 'few, little', and 'leaf' originates from Old English 'lēaf' meaning 'leaf'.

'few' developed from Old English 'fēawe' → Middle English 'fewe'; 'leaf' developed from Old English 'lēaf' → Middle English 'lef/leaf'. In Modern English the two elements were combined with '-ed' to form the descriptive compound 'few-leaved'.

Initially the elements meant 'few' = 'not many' and 'leaf' = 'leaf'; when combined as 'few-leaved' the meaning has remained stable as 'having a small number of leaves'.