ancient vs modern

ancient

adj
  • Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern. 

  • Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages. 

  • Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old. 

noun
  • One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery. 

  • A person who is very old. 

  • A person who lived in ancient times. 

modern

adj
  • Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient. 

  • Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography. 

noun
  • Someone who lives in modern times. 

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