'properly-held' originates from the combination of 'properly' and 'held', where 'properly' means 'in a proper manner' and 'held' is the past participle of 'hold', meaning 'to keep or maintain'.

'properly' evolved from the Latin word 'proprius', meaning 'one's own', and 'held' comes from the Old English 'healdan', meaning 'to hold or keep'.

Initially, 'properly-held' meant 'held in a proper manner', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.