add vs decay

add

noun
  • The addition of a song to a station's playlist. 

  • An act or instance of adding. 

  • An additional enemy that joins a fight after the primary target. 

verb
  • To append (e.g. a statement); to say further information; to add on. 

  • To summon minions or reinforcements. 

  • To combine elements of (something) into one quantity. 

  • To give by way of increased possession (to someone); to bestow (on). 

  • To make an addition; to augment; to increase; to add on. 

  • To join or unite (e.g. one thing to another, or as several particulars) so as to increase the number, augment the quantity, or enlarge the magnitude, or so as to form into one aggregate. 

  • To sum up; to put together mentally; to add up. 

  • To perform the arithmetical operation of addition. 

decay

noun
  • The process or result of being gradually decomposed. 

  • A deterioration of condition; loss of status or fortune. 

  • The situation, in programming languages such as C, where an array loses its type and dimensions and is reduced to a pointer, for example by passing it to a function. 

verb
  • To undergo bit rot, that is, gradual degradation. 

  • To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality. 

  • To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon. 

  • Loss of airspeed due to drag. 

  • To undergo software rot, that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment, so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete. 

  • To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons; to undergo radioactive decay. 

  • To cause to rot or deteriorate. 

  • Of an array: to lose its type and dimensions and be reduced to a pointer, for example when passed to a function. 

  • To rot, to go bad. 

  • To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body). 

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