assist vs attenuate

assist

verb
  • To help. 

  • To make a pass that leads directly towards scoring. 

  • To help compensate for what is missing with the help of a medical technique or therapy. 

noun
  • A decisive pass made to the goal scorer 

  • A helpful action or an act of giving. 

  • A defensive play, allowing a teammate to record a putout. 

attenuate

adj
  • Gradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base. 

verb
  • To reduce the amplitude of an electrical, radio, or optical signal. 

  • To weaken. 

  • To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree. 

  • To become thin or fine; to grow less. 

  • To rarefy. 

  • (of a beer) To become less dense as a result of the conversion of sugar to alcohol. 

  • To reduce the virulence of a bacterium or virus. 

  • To make thinner, as by physically reshaping, starving, or decaying. 

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