'wind-dispersed' is a compound of the noun 'wind' and the past-participle adjective 'dispersed'. 'wind' originates from Old English 'wind', from Proto-Germanic '*windaz' meaning 'air in motion'; 'dispersed' comes from Latin 'dispersus', the past participle of 'dispergere', where 'dis-' meant 'apart' and 'spargere' meant 'to scatter'.

'dispergere' (Latin) produced Late Latin/medieval forms such as 'dispersus'; the verb entered Middle English via Latin (and Old French influences) as 'disperse'. 'wind' comes directly from Old English 'wind'. The compound 'wind-dispersed' is a modern English formation combining noun + past participle to describe what is scattered by wind.

Initially, the components separately meant 'air in motion' (wind) and 'to scatter' (disperse). Over time they combined into the descriptive modern term 'wind-dispersed', meaning 'scattered or carried by the wind'.