'starch-poor' is a modern English compound formed from 'starch' and 'poor'. 'Starch' ultimately comes from Old English 'stearc' (from Proto-Germanic *starkaz) where the root meant 'stiff' and later named the substance extracted from plants; 'poor' comes via Old French 'povre' from Latin 'pauper', meaning 'poor' or 'lacking'.

'starch' changed from Old English 'stearc' (original sense 'stiff') and developed into the noun for the carbohydrate 'starch' in Middle English; 'poor' evolved from Old French 'povre' (Latin 'pauper') into the modern English adjective 'poor'. The compound 'starch-poor' is a transparent modern formation meaning 'poor in starch'.

Initially, 'starch' referred to stiffness and later came to denote the plant carbohydrate we call starch; 'poor' has long meant 'lacking' or 'insufficient'. Together the compound came to mean 'lacking in starch' (i.e., low in starch content).