linguistic:voice_change, information:classification
Etymology

The word "starch" is from a Germanic root with the meanings "strong, stiff, strengthen, stiffen".

Modern German Stärke (strength, starch) is related and refers to the main historical applications, its uses in textiles: sizing yarn for weaving, and starching linen.

The Greek term for starch, "amylon" (ἄμυλον), which means "not milled", is also related. It provides the root amyl, which is used as a prefix for several carbon compounds related to or derived from starch (e.g. amyl alcohol, amylose, amylopectin).