'part-preserved' is an English compound formed from 'part' (from Latin 'pars', meaning 'part') and 'preserved' (from Latin 'praeservare' via Old French 'preserver'), where 'prae-' meant 'before' and 'servare' meant 'to keep or save'.

'part' came into English via Old French/Latin 'pars'; 'preserved' developed from Latin 'praeservare' → Old French 'preserver' → Middle English 'preserven'/'preserved'. The compound 'part-preserved' is a modern English formation combining these elements to describe something preserved only in part.

The component roots originally meant 'a part' and 'to keep (before)', and together the compound came to mean 'kept in part' or 'partially retained', a more specific descriptive sense in modern usage.