"of or pertaining to a compartment or compartments," 1831, from compartment + -al (1).
Entries linking to compartmental
compartment n.
a part separated from adjoining parts by a partition,""1560s, from French compartiment "part partitioned off" (16c.), through Italian compartimento, from Late Latin compartiri "to divide," from com-, here probably as an intensive prefix (see com-), + partis, genitive of pars "a part, piece, a share, a division" (from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot").
-al 1
suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).
compartmentalize v.
also compartmentalise, "divide or separate into compartments," 1918, from compartmental + -ize. Related: Compartmentalized; compartmentalizing.