The word 'straw' originates from the Old English 'strēaw', which is related to the act of strewing or spreading. This Old English term is derived from the Proto-Germanic 'strawam', meaning 'that which is strewn'. The connection lies in the agricultural practice of spreading dried grain stalks after threshing. The semantic journey moved from the general concept of 'that which is scattered' to specifically denote the dry stalks of grain, and later extended to the thin, tubular drinking implement due to its original manufacture from the hollow stems of rye grass.

The word 'straw' is a simplex word of Old English origin. It cannot be meaningfully segmented into smaller, independent morphemes within its modern English spelling.