clip art
compound.compound. simple pictures or symbols that you can copy and paste into a document. You use them to make a presentation or report look more interesting.
compound. pre-made images or illustrations used to decorate or enhance digital documents and presentations. Typically consists of simple, non-photographic graphics that are royalty-free and easily inserted into word processors.
I added some clip art to my school presentation.
The newsletter looked much more professional after we replaced the old clip art with modern icons.
While professional designers prefer custom illustrations, many office workers still rely on clip art for quick visual aids in internal memos and basic flyers.
Derived from the physical practice of cutting illustrations from printed catalogues or books to be manually pasted into a layout. The term transitioned from the graphic design industry to digital computing as software replaced the scissors and glue.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated July 22, 2026