starch

English

Etymology

From Middle English starche, sterche, from Old English *stierċe (“stiffness, rigidity, strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *starkī (“stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sterg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch sterk (“strong”), Middle Low German sterke (“strength”), German Stärke (“strength", also "starch”), Swedish stärkelse (“starch”), Icelandic sterkja (“starch”). Related to English stark (“stiff, strong, vigorous, powerful”).

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /stɑɹt͡ʃ/
(UK) IPA^(key): /stɑːt͡ʃ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tʃ

Noun

starch (countable and uncountable, plural starches)

(uncountable) A widely diffused vegetable substance, found especially in seeds, bulbs and tubers, as extracted (e.g. from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in the form of a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, without taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making paste, etc.
(nutrition, countable) Carbohydrates, as with grain and potato based foods.
(uncountable) A stiff, formal manner; formality.
- 1712 March 1 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “TUESDAY, February 19, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 305; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697:
  this Professor is to give the society their stiffening, and infuse into their manners that beautiful political starch, which may qualify them for Levées, Conferences, Visits
(uncountable) Fortitude.
- 2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 98:
  The thought of the gun in his back put some starch in him. He needed the handrail, and he limped step by step, but he ascended at his full height.
(countable) Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener

Derived terms

starchy
cornstarch
potato starch

Translations

substance

Albanian: koll (sq) f
Arabic: نَشَاء‎ (našāʾ)
Armenian: օսլա (hy) (ōsla)
Assamese: মাৰ (mar)
Belarusian: крухма́л m (kruxmál)
Bulgarian: скорбяла f (skorbjala)
Burmese: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: midó (ca) m
Cebuano: tayubong
Chamicuro: almelone
Chinese:
Cantonese: 澱粉, 淀粉 (din⁶ fan²)
Hakka: 澱粉, 淀粉 (thien-fún)
Mandarin: 澱粉／淀粉 (zh) (diànfěn)
Min Nan: 澱粉, 淀粉 (tiān-hún)
Czech: škrob m
Danish: stivelse
Dutch: zetmeel (nl)
Esperanto: amelo
Estonian: tärklis (et)
Finnish: tärkkelys (fi)
French: amidon (fr) m
Galician: amidón (gl) m
Gallurese: madoni
Georgian: სახამებელი (saxamebeli)
German: Stärke (de) f
Greek: άμυλο (el) n (ámylo)
Ancient: ἄμυλον n (ámulon)
Guaraní: aramirõ (gn)
Hebrew: עֲמִילָן‎ (he) m (amilan)
Higaonon: tayobong
Hindi: स्टार्च m (sṭārc), कलफ़ m (kalaf)
Hungarian: keményítő (hu)
Indonesian: amilum, pati (id)
Italian: amido (it) m
Japanese: デンプン (denpun), 澱粉 (ja) (でんぷん, denpun)
Kalmyk: цавг (tsavg)
Khmer: បិដ្ឋជាតិ (be’dtʰɑ ciet)
Korean: 녹말 (ko) (nongmal)
Lao: ທາດແປ້ງ (thāt pǣng)
Latin: amylum
Latvian: ciete, stērķele f (archaism)
Lithuanian: krakmolas
Macedonian: скроб m (skrob), ни́шесте n (níšeste)
Malay: kanji (ms) n
Maltese: lamtu m
Maori: tāhi, māngaro
Mongolian: цардуул (mn) (carduul)
Norman: amidon m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: stivelse m
Nynorsk: stivelse m
Occitan: empés m, amidon (oc) m
Ottoman Turkish: نشاسته‎ (nişasta)
Persian: نشاسته‎ (fa) (nešâste)
Polish: skrobia (pl) f
Portuguese: amido (pt) m, fécula (pt) f
Romanian: amidon (ro)
Russian: крахма́л (ru) m (kraxmál)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: gròru, madoni
Logudorese: madone, midone
Sassarese: madoni
Serbo-Croatian: škrob (sh) m, шкроб
Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: škrob (sk)
Spanish: almidón (es) m
Swedish: stärkelse (sv) c
Tagalog: almirol (tl)
Thai: แป้ง (th) (bpɛ̂ɛng)
Turkish: nişasta (tr)
Turkmen: krahmal
Ukrainian: крохма́ль m (kroxmálʹ)
Vietnamese: tinh bột (vi)

carbohydrates

Bulgarian: нишесте n (nišeste)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 碳水化合物 (zh) (tànshuǐhuàhéwù)
Czech: škrob m
Danish: stivelse
Dutch: zetmeel (nl) n
Finnish: tärkkelys (fi)
French: amidon (fr) m
German: Stärke (de) f
Hebrew: עֲמִילָן‎ (he) m (amilan)
Indonesian: pati (id)
Italian: amido (it) m
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: nîşa (ku) f
Latvian: ciete f
Macedonian: скроб m (skrob), нишесте n (nišeste)
Maori: tāhi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: stivelse m
Polish: skrobia (pl) f
Portuguese: amido (pt) m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: скроб m, шкроб
Roman: skrob m, škrob (sh) m
Slovak: škrob (sk) m
Spanish: almidón (es) m
Swedish: stärkelse (sv)
Tagalog: almirol (tl)
Thai: แป้ง (th) (bpɛ̂ɛng)

stiff manner

Bulgarian: скованост (bg) f (skovanost)
Finnish: jäykkyys (fi)
French: rigidité (fr) f
German: Steifheit (de) f
Irish: ardnós m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: stivhet m or f
Polish: sztywność (pl) f
Serbo-Croatian: uštogljenost (sh) f

laundry stiffener

Bulgarian: кола (bg) f (kola)
Catalan: midó (ca)
Dutch: stijfsel (nl) n
Finnish: tärkki (fi)
French: apprêt (fr) m, empois (fr) m, cati (fr) m
Gallurese: madoni
German: Wäschestärke f, Wäschesteife f
Italian: appretto (it) m, amido (it) m
Macedonian: штирак m (štirak)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: stivelse m
Polish: krochmal (pl) m
Portuguese: goma (pt) f
Russian: крахма́л (ru) m (kraxmál)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: gròru, madoni
Logudorese: madone, midone
Sassarese: madoni
Serbo-Croatian: škrobilo (sh) n
Spanish: almidón (es) m
Tagalog: almirol (tl)
Turkish: kola (tr), çamaşır kolası

Verb

starch (third-person singular simple present starches, present participle starching, simple past and past participle starched)

To apply or treat with laundry starch, to create a hard, smooth surface.
She starched her blouses.

Translations

apply laundry starch

Bulgarian: колосвам (kolosvam)
Catalan: emmidonar (ca)
Esperanto: ameli, amelumi
Finnish: tärkätä (fi)
French: amidonner (fr)
Galician: amidonar (gl)
German: stärken (de)
Italian: inamidare, apprettare (it)
Macedonian: штирка (štirka)
Polish: krochmalić (pl)
Portuguese: engomar (pt)
Russian: накрахма́ливать (ru) (nakraxmálivatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: škrobiti (sh)
Slovak: škrobiť, naškrobiť
Spanish: almidonar (es)
Swedish: stärka (sv)
Thai: ลงแป้ง

Adjective

starch (not comparable)

Stiff; precise; rigid.
- 1713, John Killingbeck, Eighteen sermons on practical subjects
  misrepresenting Sobriety as a Starch and Formal, and Vertue as a Laborious and Slavish thing

Derived terms

starchness

Translations

stiff

Dutch: stijf (nl), precies (nl), rigide (nl)
Finnish: jäykkä (fi)
Portuguese: duro (pt), preciso (pt), rígido (pt)
Serbo-Croatian: uštogljeno

References

starch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

charts, crasht, trachs

Cimbrian

Adjective

starch

strong
loud

References

Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien