Origami (折り紙?, from ori meaning "folding", and kami
meaning "paper"; kami changes to gami due to rendaku)
is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th
century AD at the latest and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-1900s.
It has since then evolved into a modern art form. The goal of this art is to
transform a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and
sculpting techniques, and as such the use of cuts or glue are not considered to
be origami. Paper cutting and gluing is usually considered kirigami.
The number of basic origami folds is small, but they can be
combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The best known origami
model is probably the Japanese paper crane.
In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be
different colors or prints. Traditional Japanese origami, which has been
practiced since the Edo era (1603–1867), has often been less strict about these
conventions, sometimes cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start
with.
The principles of origami are also being used in stents, packaging
and other engineering structures.
