starch

English

Etymology

From Middle English starche (noun), from *starche, sterch (“stiff”, adj), an assibilated form of Middle English stark, sterk (“strong; stiff”), from Old English stearc (“stark; strong; rough”). Compare Middle High German sterke, German Stärke. More at stark.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /stɑɹtʃ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /stɑːtʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tʃ

Noun

starch (countable and uncountable, plural starches)

1. (uncountable) A widely diffused vegetable substance found especially in seeds, bulbs, and tubers, and extracted (as from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) as 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.
2. (nutrition, countable) Carbohydrates, as with grain and potato based foods.
3. (uncountable, figuratively) A stiff, formal manner; formality.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

4. (countable) Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener

Derived terms

• starchy
• cornstarch
• potato starch

Translations

substance

• Albanian: niseshte (sq) f
• Arabic: نَشَاء‏‎ (našāʾ)
• Armenian: օսլա (hy) (ōsla)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: midó m
• Chamicuro: almelone
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 澱粉, 淀粉 (din⁶ fan²)

  Hakka: 澱粉, 淀粉 (thien-fún)

  Mandarin: 澱粉 (zh), 淀粉 (zh) (diànfěn)

  Min Nan: 澱粉, 淀粉 (tiān-hún)

• Czech: škrob m
• Danish: stivelse
• Dutch: zetmeel (nl)
• Esperanto: amelo
• 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)
• Hebrew: עֲמִילָן‏‎ (he) m (amilan)
• Hindi: स्टार्च m (sṭārca), कलफ़ m (kalaf)
• Hungarian: keményítő (hu)
• Italian: amido (it) m
• Japanese: デンプン (denpun), 澱粉 (でんぷん, denpun)
• Kalmyk: цавг (tsavg)
• Khmer: បិដ្ឋជាតិ (be’dtʰɑ ciet)
• Korean: 녹말 (ko) (nogmal)

• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: amylum
• Latvian: ciete, stērķele f (archaism)
• Lithuanian: krakmolo
• Macedonian: скроб m (skrob), ни́шесте n (níšeste)
• Malay: kanji (ms) n
• Maori: tāhi, māngaro
• Mongolian: цардуул (mn) (tsarduul)
• Norman: amidon m
• Norwegian: stivelse
• Occitan: empés m, amidon m
• 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
• Spanish: almidón (es) m
• Swedish: stärkelse (sv) c
• Tagalog: binukbok
• Thai: แป้ง (th) (bpɛ̂ɛng)
• Turkish: nişasta (tr)
• Turkmen: krahmal
• Ukrainian: крохма́ль m (kroxmálʹ)
• Vietnamese: tinh bột (vi)

carbohydrates

• 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 f
• Hebrew: עֲמִילָן‏‎ (he) m (amilan)
• Italian: amido (it) m
• Latvian: ciete f

• Macedonian: скроб m (skrob), нишесте n (níšeste)
• Maori: tāhi
• Polish: skrobia (pl) f
• Portuguese: amido (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: скроб m, шкроб

  Roman: skrob m, škrob (sh) m

• Spanish: almidón (es) m
• Swedish: stärkelse (sv)
• Thai: แป้ง (th) (bpɛ̂ɛng)

stiff manner

• Finnish: jäykkyys (fi)
• French: rigidité (fr) f
• German: Steifheit f

• Irish: ardnós m
• Polish: sztywność (pl) f
• Serbo-Croatian: uštogljenost (sh) f

laundry stiffener

• Catalan: midó
• 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 (štírak)
• Polish: krochmal 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

Verb

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

1. To apply or treat with laundry starch, to create a hard, smooth surface.

   She starched her blouses.

Translations

apply laundry starch

• Catalan: emmidonar (ca)
• Finnish: tärkätä (fi)
• French: amidonner (fr)
• Galician: amidonar (gl)
• German: stärken (de)
• Italian: inamidare, apprettare (it)
• Macedonian: штирка (štírka)

• Polish: krochmalić (pl)
• Portuguese: engomar (pt)
• Russian: накрахма́ливать (nakraxmálivatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: škrobiti (sh)
• Spanish: almidonar (es)
• Thai: ลงแป้ง

Adjective

starch (not comparable)

1. Stiff; precise; rigid.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Killingbeck to this entry?)

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