A white carbohydrate substance obtained from cereals and potatoes, used as food and for stiffening fabric. A complex polymer of glucose found in many plants.
From Middle English 'sterchen' meaning 'to stiffen', from Old English 'stearc' meaning 'stiff, strong'. The word originally described the process of making fabric stiff and rigid, later extending to the substance itself as its chemical properties became understood.
Starch is actually a plant's way of storing energy - those potato and rice starches we eat are essentially plant batteries, packed with glucose chains ready to be broken down for fuel. The stiffening property that gave starch its name comes from these same glucose polymers forming rigid structures when dried.
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