caput vs sconce

caput

noun
  • The head. 

  • A knob-like protuberance or capitulum. 

  • The top or superior part of a thing. 

  • The council or ruling body of the University of Cambridge prior to the constitution of 1856. 

sconce

noun
  • A head or a skull. 

  • An act of sconcing; very similar to a fine at Cambridge University, though a sconce is the act of issuing a penalty rather than the penalty itself. 

  • A fixed seat or shelf. 

  • A poll tax; a mulct or fine. 

  • A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb. 

  • A fragment of a floe of ice. 

  • A candlestick (holder for a candle, especially a circular tube, with a brim, into which a candle is inserted), either with a handle for carrying, or with a bracket for attaching to a wall. 

  • A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford. 

  • A squinch. 

verb
  • During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to announce some (usually outrageous) deed such that anyone who has done it must drink; similar to I have never; commonly associated with crewdates; very similar to fining at Cambridge University. 

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