'newly-arrived' originates from the combination of 'newly' and 'arrived', where 'newly' means 'recently' and 'arrived' is the past participle of 'arrive', meaning 'to reach a place'.

'newly-arrived' changed from the Old English word 'nīwe' (new) and the Old French word 'arriver' (to arrive) and eventually became the modern English word 'newly-arrived'.

Initially, it meant 'recently reached a place', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.