In the 14th century, Holland and other northern Euro-pean countries began stiffening their linen cloth with wheat starch. The word starch dates from the 15th century, and comes from a German root that means “to stiffen, to make rigid,” which is also what starch does to convert bread dough into bread. The German in turn came from an Indo-European root meaning “stiff”; related words are stare, stark, stern, and starve (which results in the rigidity of death).