abuse vs persecute

abuse

verb
  • To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. 

  • To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. 

  • To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually. 

  • To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert 

noun
  • Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. 

  • Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. 

  • Misuse; improper use; perversion. 

  • Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. 

  • Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. 

persecute

verb
  • To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy. 

  • To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats. 

  • To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief. 

How often have the words abuse and persecute occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )