The compound adjective 'tech-heavy' is a modern formation from the late 20th century, emerging alongside the growth of the technology sector in finance and industry. Its first element, 'tech', is a direct truncation of 'technology', a word which itself derives from the Greek 'tekhnē' (art, craft) and 'logia' (study). The second element, 'heavy', retains its Old English sense of 'weighty' or 'substantial', metaphorically extended to mean 'characterized by a large proportion of'. Thus, the literal construction 'technology-weighty' logically evolved to describe any entity dominated by or densely packed with technological components or investments.

Structure: tech (technology) + heavy (large amount) - tech: A clipping/shortening of the word 'technology'. Origin: Greek, via 'tekhnē' (art, craft, skill). Functional role: The core noun element specifying the domain. - heavy: From Old English 'hefig' (weighty, serious, important). Functional role: An adjective-forming element meaning 'having in large amount', 'characterized by', or 'weighted toward'.