bate vs weaken

bate

verb
  • To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower. 

  • To deprive of. 

  • To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation 

  • To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate. 

  • To masturbate. 

  • To waste away. 

  • To allow by way of abatement or deduction. 

  • To reduce the force of something; to abate. 

  • To cut off, remove, take away. 

  • To contend or strive with blows or arguments. 

  • Of a falcon: To flap the wings vigorously; to bait. 

noun
  • Strife; contention. 

  • An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning. 

  • A vat which contains this liquid. 

weaken

verb
  • To make weaker or less strong. 

  • To become weaker or less strong. 

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