'lawfully-asserted' originates from the combination of 'lawfully' and 'asserted', where 'lawfully' is derived from 'law' meaning 'a system of rules' and 'asserted' from 'assert' meaning 'to state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully'.

'lawfully' evolved from Old English 'lagu' meaning 'law', and 'asserted' from Latin 'assertus', past participle of 'asserere', meaning 'to join to'.

Initially, 'asserted' meant 'to join to', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'to state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully'.