'starch-active' is a modern compound formed in English from the noun 'starch' + the adjective 'active'. 'starch' originates from Old English 'stearc' (from Proto-Germanic *starkaz) meaning 'stiff, strong', later referring to the substance used to stiffen cloth and the carbohydrate; 'active' originates from Latin 'activus' (via Old French 'actif') meaning 'doing, acting'.

'starch' changed from Old English 'stearc' to Middle English 'starch', shifting from the general sense 'stiff' to the substance used to stiffen clothes and then to the carbohydrate; 'active' came from Latin 'activus' through Old French 'actif' into Middle and Modern English. The compound 'starch-active' is a modern technical formation used in biological/biochemical contexts to describe activity toward starch.

Initially, 'starch' referred to stiffness or a stiffening agent and later came to denote the carbohydrate 'starch'; 'active' originally meant 'doing/acting' and retained the sense of 'having activity'. The compound now specifically means 'showing activity toward starch (e.g., able to hydrolyze it)'.