'haphazardly-preserved' originates from a compound of English elements: 'haphazardly' and 'preserved'. 'haphazardly' derives from 'haphazard' (English), itself from 'hap' (Old Norse 'happ', meaning 'chance') + 'hazard' (Old French 'hasard', ultimately from Arabic 'az-zahr', 'dice' or 'chance'); 'preserved' originates from Latin 'praeservare'/'preservare', where 'prae-/pre-' meant 'before' and 'servare' meant 'to keep'.

'haphazardly' developed from 'haphazard' (formed in English by combining 'hap' + 'hazard') with the adverbial suffix '-ly'. 'preserved' came into English via Old French and Middle English from Latin 'praeservare' → Old French 'preserver' → Middle English 'preserven' → modern English 'preserve' and past participle 'preserved'. The compound 'haphazardly-preserved' is a modern English formation combining the adverbial modifier and the past-participle adjective.

Initially, elements meant 'chance' (hap/hazard) and 'to keep beforehand' (prae-/servare). Over time 'haphazardly' came to mean 'in a random or unplanned way' and 'preserved' kept the sense of 'kept/saved'; the compound now conveys 'kept in a random/unplanned (and therefore often poor) way.'