act vs measure

act

noun
  • A product of a legislative body, a statute. 

  • A display of behaviour. 

  • A display of behaviour meant to deceive. 

  • A division of a theatrical performance. 

  • Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work. 

  • Any organized activity. 

  • A performer or performers in a show. 

  • A formal or official record of something done. 

  • The process of doing something. 

  • A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. 

  • Something done, a deed. 

verb
  • Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly). 

  • To perform a theatrical role. 

  • To play (a role). 

  • To convey an appearance of being. 

  • To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of). 

  • To feign. 

  • To do something. 

  • To have an effect (on). 

  • To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time. 

  • To do something that causes a change binding on the doer. 

measure

noun
  • A piece of legislation. 

  • A unit of measurement. 

  • A standard against which something can be judged; a criterion. 

  • Any of various standard units of capacity. 

  • An (unspecified) portion or quantity. 

  • A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like. 

  • A ruler, measuring stick, or graduated tape used to take measurements. 

  • The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.) 

  • A bed or stratum. 

  • A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) 

  • A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition; a bar. 

  • The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot. 

  • Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. 

  • A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. 

verb
  • To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard. 

  • To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement) 

  • To estimate the unit size of something. 

  • To adjust by a rule or standard. 

  • To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over. 

  • To judge, value, or appraise. 

  • To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out or off. 

  • To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments. 

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