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A.Word.A.Day--orihon

This week's theme: words about books.

orihon (OR-ee-hon) noun

A book or manuscript folded like an accordion: a roll of paper inscribed on one side only, folded backwards and forwards.

[From Japanese, ori (fold), + hon (book).]

Here's a picture of an orihon. The word origami is from the same root, from Japanese ori (fold) + -gami, kami (paper), the art of paper folding that can coax a whole menagerie from a few sheets of paper.

-Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)

"He created an orihon binding -- an accordion-style technique that allowed the book to expand to more than 60 feet." Veronica Chestnut; Digital Printing at Harvard; Electronic Publishing, Jul 1997.

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