climax vs culmination

climax

noun
  • A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series 

  • A rhetorical device in which a series is arranged in ascending order. 

  • The final term of a rhetorical climax. 

  • The culmination of sexual pleasure, an orgasm. 

  • The culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point. 

  • The culmination of ecological development, whereby species are in equilibrium with their environment. 

verb
  • To reach or bring to a climax (in any sense). 

culmination

noun
  • Endpoint (usually good) arrived at after some series of actions or events, or some period , usually after the series or period has ended. The sum of something. 

  • The attainment of the highest point of altitude reached by a heavenly body; passage across the meridian; transit. 

  • A ceremony marking the completion of studies at an elementary school, middle school or junior high school, the term "graduation" being reserved for high school. 

  • Attainment or arrival at the highest pitch of glory, power, etc. 

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