'no-starch' is a compound formed from the negative particle 'no' (meaning 'not') and the noun 'starch'.

'starch' originates from Old English 'stearc' (meaning 'stiff' or 'strong') and from Proto-Germanic '*starkaz'; the sense shifted to the substance that makes fabrics stiff and then to the food carbohydrate 'starch'. 'no' comes from Old English 'nō' meaning 'not'. The compound 'no-starch' is a modern English formation combining these elements to indicate absence of starch.

Individually, 'starch' originally referred to 'stiffness' and later to the substance that causes stiffness and to the carbohydrate; 'no-starch' has the straightforward modern meaning 'without starch'.