'sand-covered' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the noun 'sand' and the past participle 'covered'.

'sand' comes from Old English 'sand', from Proto-Germanic '*sandaz'; 'cover' (the root of 'covered') came into English via Old French 'covrir'/'couvrir' from Latin 'cooperire', where 'co-' meant 'together' and 'operire' meant 'to cover'.

Initially, the compound meant 'covered with sand', and over time it has retained that same meaning as 'covered with sand'.