contend vs intermediate

contend

verb
  • To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue. 

  • To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight. 

  • To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate. 

  • To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend. 

  • contend with: To try to cope with a difficulty or problem. 

intermediate

verb
  • To mediate, to be an intermediate. 

  • To arrange, in the manner of a broker. 

adj
  • Being between two extremes, or in the middle of a range. 

noun
  • Any substance formed as part of a series of chemical reactions that is not the end-product. 

  • An intermediary. 

  • Anything in an intermediate position. 

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