'lawfully-maintained' originates from the combination of 'lawfully' and 'maintained', where 'lawfully' means 'in a manner conforming to the law' and 'maintained' means 'kept in a specified state'.

'lawfully-maintained' combines the Middle English 'lawful' and 'maintain', evolving into the modern English compound adjective.

Initially, it meant 'kept in a lawful manner', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.