attenuate vs extend

attenuate

verb
  • To become thin or fine; to grow less. 

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

  • To weaken. 

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

  • 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. 

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

extend

verb
  • To increase in quantity by weakening or adulterating additions. 

  • To reenlist for a further period. 

  • To value, as lands taken by a writ of extent in satisfaction of a debt; to assign by writ of extent. 

  • To straighten (a limb). 

  • Of a class: to be an extension or subtype of, or to be based on, a prototype or a more abstract class. 

  • To increase in extent. 

  • To cause to increase in extent. 

  • To cause to last for a longer period of time. 

  • To possess a certain extent; to cover an amount of space. 

  • To bestow; to offer; to impart; to apply. 

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