The compound adjective 'ten-pound' is a transparent combination of two ancient roots. The first element, 'ten', descends directly from the Proto-Indo-European word for the number, déḱm̥t, which is remarkably stable across Indo-European languages. The second element, 'pound', has a more complex journey, originating from the Latin pondus meaning "a weight," which was borrowed into early Germanic languages. The compound itself follows the common English pattern of number-noun attributives, where the noun remains in its singular form. Literally meaning "of ten pounds," its application expanded from describing physical weight to also denote the monetary value of ten pounds sterling, reflecting the historical use of a pound weight of silver as a unit of currency.

Structure: ten (number) + pound (unit) - ten: From Old English tīen, from Proto-Germanic tehun, from Proto-Indo-European déḱm̥t. Functions as a numeral. - pound: From Old English pund (a unit of weight, also a money of account), from Proto-Germanic pundą, from Latin pondō (by weight) and pondus (weight). Functions as a noun denoting a unit of weight or currency.