折る
おる · oru · JLPT N4 · verb-godan
to bend
📄🦢 折る (oru) is the ori in origami = fold + paper
Origami is 折り紙: ori (from 折る, to fold or bend) + kami (paper). The same verb covers snapping a twig or breaking a bone. The kanji 折 = hand radical 扌 + axe 斤: a hand using an axe to break something.
折 — hand 扌 + axe 斤
Originally written as 折 with a hand (扌) breaking or chopping something with an axe (斤), depicting the act of snapping or cutting in two. The core meaning 'to break, snap, fold' extends metaphorically to 'bend,' 'turn back,' and 'discount' (as in reducing a price by breaking off part).