The compound adjective "wide-set" is a transparent combination of two native English elements. "Wide," with its ancient Germanic roots meaning broad or extensive, describes a significant lateral distance. "Set," also from Old English, denotes the action or state of being placed or positioned. When combined, the term literally means "placed far apart," a concept directly applied in modern English to describe physical features, particularly eyes, that have a greater-than-average distance between them. This compound follows a common Germanic pattern of creating descriptive terms by joining an adjective with a past participle, resulting in a meaning that is logically derived from the sum of its parts.

Structure: wide (broad) + set (placed) - wide: From Old English wīd (spacious, broad), of Germanic origin. - set: From Old English settan (to cause to sit, place, put), of Germanic origin.