origami
verbEtymology Borrowed from Japanese 折(お)り紙(がみ) (origami), from 折(お)り (ori, “to fold”) + 紙(かみ) (kami, “paper”).
1
To construct by means of decorative paper folding.
- He snatched my serviette and swiftly origamied a swan.
origami
nounUK /ˌɒɹɪˈɡɑːmi/ · US /ˌoɹəˈɡɑmi/
Etymology Borrowed from Japanese 折(お)り紙(がみ) (origami), from 折(お)り (ori, “to fold”) + 紙(かみ) (kami, “paper”).
1
The Japanese art of paper folding.
- JongRak was a 10-year-old boy whose hands, eyes, and questions were all about origami: “Teacher, do you know how to fold a jumping frog?” With his deft little hands, he would teach me and the class how to fold a sunflower and a cicada. At some point, every kid’s little hands and pockets were filled with tiny origami models.2022, “Peace Spheres: Ecological Relationship of Self, Others, and the World”, in Building Positive Peace, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2025, page 1:
2
A piece of art made by folding paper.
- The production notes are folded like the funny origamis that I made in grammar school (only I used to write boy's names inside each section).1993, Communication arts:
3
The materials science technology that applies the art of origami to products.
4
The materials science that studies origami applications in various material.
5
The mathematics field that studies folding two-dimensional surfaces into three-dimensional structures, using folds and creases akin to those in the art of origami.
- Derived terms
- aerogami, cablegami, microorigami, origamic, origamically, origami crane, origamilike, origamist, scorigami, thick origami, toilegami, weathergami
- Coordinate terms
- cootie catcher, paperfolding, teabag folding