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starch

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Etymology and origin of the English word starch

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1390 1390–91, Norwich Sacrist's Roll
Inherited from
Middle English sterche via Middle English, Old English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *starkaz

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈstɑːt͡ʃ/[1]
  • US: /ˈstɑɹt͡ʃ/[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English sterchen,[2][3][4] probably from an unrecorded inherited from Old English *stercan (“to make rigid”), West Saxon *stiercan,[2][3][5] whose past participle is apparently preserved in stercedferhþ (“fixed or resolute of mind”).[2][3][5][6] It is formed from stearc (“stiff, strong”), the source of stark,[3][7][4][8] from Proto-Germanic *starkaz.[9] Its cognates are Old Frisian sterka (“to strengthen”), Old Saxon sterkian, Middle Dutch sterken, Old High German sterken (stärken, to strengthen, also to starch) and Swedish stärka, which also means to starch.[5][3][2] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”).[2][10] The noun is inherited from Middle English sterche, from the verb;[5][2][3] Klein calls it a back-formation.[11] German Stärke (“strength; starch”) shows the same development.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stiffen cloth with starch: 1390–91, implied in starchying in a Norwich sacrist's roll,[5][3] with the verb itself in 1402.[3] The noun, the stiffening paste made from flour, is first recorded in 1440 in the Promptorium Parvulorum.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Starch was at first a laundry substance;[5][2] from 1589 it was also used to stiffen beards;[5] Johnson (1755) notes that it was formerly coloured, quoting Fletcher on "yellow starch".[12] Stiffened linen suggested stiff manners: the verb meant to make a person or speech formal or severe from 1601,[5] the noun meant stiffness or formality from 1694,[5] or 1705 in Etymonline,[2] and the adjective starch, stiff and prim, appeared in 1716.[5] Chemists applied the word to the carbohydrate itself in 1779,[5] or 1812–16 according to Barnhart;[3] from 1870 it also meant starchy food.[5] In American slang the sense turned the other way, to courage, vigour or pride (1859),[5][13] so that to take the starch out of someone (1830) was to humble or exhaust them,[5] and in boxing to starch someone was to knock them out (1930).[5]

Timeline

  • 1390–91 – to stiffen cloth with starch.[5][3]
  • before 1425 – to whiten the face with starch.[5]
  • 1440 – noun, the paste used to stiffen cloth.[5][3]
  • 1589 – to stiffen the beard with starch.[5]
  • 1601 – to make formal or severe.[5]
  • 1694 – noun, stiffness or formality of manner.[5]
  • 1716 – adjective, stiff, prim.[5]
  • 1779 – the carbohydrate in chemistry.[5]
  • 1830 – to take the starch out of, to humble or exhaust.[5]
  • 1859 – pride; courage, vigour, in American slang.[5][13]
  • 1870 – starchy food.[5]
  • 1930 – verb, to knock out in boxing.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A white, tasteless carbohydrate, a polysaccharide made of glucose units, which plants store and which is obtained chiefly from cereals and potatoes.[8][4]
  2. Starch in powder or solution, used to stiffen fabric: She sprayed starch on the collars before ironing.[8][4]
  3. Food rich in starch, such as rice or bread.[8][5]
  4. Stiff formality of manner.[4][5]
  5. (informal, chiefly US) Energy, vigour or courage.[5][13]

Verb

  1. To stiffen cloth with starch: The hotel starched its tablecloths.[4][8]
  2. To make formal or rigid.[4][5]
  3. (boxing, informal) To knock out.[5]

Adjective

  1. Stiff and formal in manner; prim.[4][5]

Word family

  • starchless
  • starchlike
  • starchy
  • cornstarch
  • overstarch

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com

Related etymologies

  • knot · also from Old English
  • slack · also from Old English
  • rot · also from Old English
  • wrath · also from Old English
  • idle · also from Old English
  • creed · also from Old English
  • chalk · also from Old English
  • grim · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Starch.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/starch. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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