death sentence vs decree

death sentence

noun
  • A decree that someone be put to death as a punishment for a crime; a sentence of execution. 

  • Anything that spells death. 

decree

noun
  • An edict or law. 

  • The determination of a cause in a court of admiralty or court of probate. 

  • A predetermination made by God; an act of providence. 

  • The judicial decision in a litigated cause rendered by a court of equity. 

verb
  • To command by a decree. 

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