'high-starch' originates from Modern English, specifically the words 'high' and 'starch', where 'high' meant 'great in amount or degree' and 'starch' meant 'a carbohydrate substance (used to stiffen or feed)'.

'high-starch' was formed by compounding the Old English-derived word 'high' (from Old English 'heah') with 'starch' (from Old English 'stearc', from Proto-Germanic *starkaz), producing the modern compound 'high-starch' in recent English usage.

Initially, 'high' and 'starch' had their separate senses ('high' = great in degree; 'starch' = the plant carbohydrate or the substance used to stiffen), but together as the compound 'high-starch' they came to mean 'having a high proportion of starch'.