Etymograph

English

starch

Starch comes from Old English *stierċe ‘stiffness, rigidity, strength’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sterg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterg-‘stiff, rigid’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*starkī‘stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stierċe‘stiffness, rigidity, strength’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500starche
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1712starch

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterg-‘stiff, rigid’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*starkī‘stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stierċe‘stiffness, rigidity, strength’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500starche
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1712starch

Earliest quotation: 1712, MONDAY, February 19, 1711–1712: “this Professor is to give the society their stiffening,…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *sterg-

Today it means

noun A widely diffused vegetable substance, found 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 maki

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sterg- / starch

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