'narrow-partitioned' originates from a combination of English words 'narrow' and 'partitioned'; 'narrow' ultimately comes from Old English 'nearu' where the root meant 'tight' or 'close', and 'partitioned' comes via Middle English from Old French/Late Latin related to Latin 'partire' meaning 'to divide'.

'narrow' changed from Old English 'nearu' to Middle English forms and eventually the modern English 'narrow'. 'Partitioned' evolved from Latin 'partire' through Old French (partir/partition) into Middle English 'partition' and then the past-participial/adjectival form 'partitioned', combining to form the compound adjective 'narrow-partitioned'.

Initially the components referred separately to 'tight/close' ('narrow') and 'division' ('partitioned'); over time the compound has come to be used descriptively to mean 'divided into particularly small or thin sections'.