consort vs herd

consort

verb
  • To associate or keep company (with). 

  • To be in agreement. 

noun
  • The spouse of a monarch. 

  • A ship accompanying another. 

  • Association or partnership. 

  • A group or company, especially of musicians playing the same type of instrument. 

  • A husband, wife, companion or partner. 

  • An informal, usually well-publicized sexual companion of a monarch, aristocrat, celebrity, etc. 

adj
  • of a title, by virtue of one's (living) spouse; often contrasted with regnant and dowager 

herd

verb
  • To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company. 

  • To manage, care for or guard a herd 

  • To act as a herdsman or a shepherd. 

  • To unite or associate in a herd 

  • To move or drive a herd. 

  • To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company. 

  • To form or put into a herd. 

noun
  • A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper. 

  • Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company. 

  • A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble. 

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