The compound adjective 'steel-rimmed' is a modern English formation built from three distinct Germanic elements. The first component, 'steel', descends from the Old English word for the hard alloy, establishing the primary material. It is combined with 'rim', an Old English term for a border or edge, which specifies the part of the object being described. Finally, the productive adjectival suffix '-ed' (here assimilated as '-med' for euphony) is attached, a grammatical feature inherited from Proto-Germanic used to denote possession or characteristics. The word's logic is transparently descriptive, literally meaning "having a rim made of steel," a construction that follows the longstanding Germanic pattern of creating precise compound modifiers.

Structure: steel (material) + rim (edge) + med (having the characteristic of) - steel: From Old English 'stēle', 'stȳle', of Germanic origin. Functions as a noun used attributively to specify the material. - rim: From Old English 'rima', meaning edge, border, or coast. Functions as a noun root indicating the part of an object. - med: A variant of the suffix '-ed', used to form adjectives from nouns, meaning "having, provided with, characterized by". Of Germanic origin via Old English '-ed', '-od', '-ad'.