'incompletely-covered' originates from the combination of 'incomplete' and 'covered'. 'Incomplete' comes from Latin 'incompletus', where 'in-' meant 'not' and 'completus' meant 'filled up'. 'Covered' comes from Old French 'covrir', meaning 'to cover'.

'incompletus' transformed into the Middle English word 'incompleet', and eventually became the modern English word 'incomplete'. 'Covrir' transformed into the Middle English word 'coveren', and eventually became the modern English word 'cover'.

Initially, 'incomplete' meant 'not filled up', and 'cover' meant 'to place something over'. Over time, 'incompletely-covered' evolved to mean 'not entirely covered'.