'unlawfully-owned' originates from the combination of 'unlawfully' and 'owned', where 'unlawfully' is derived from 'un-' meaning 'not' and 'lawful' meaning 'permitted by law', and 'owned' is the past participle of 'own', meaning 'to possess'.

'unlawfully-owned' combines the adverb 'unlawfully' with the past participle 'owned', forming a compound adjective to describe possession that is not permitted by law.

Initially, 'unlawfully' meant 'not in accordance with the law', and 'owned' meant 'possessed'. Together, they describe possession that is illegal.