discern vs spy

discern

verb
  • To detect with the senses, especially with the eyes. 

  • To distinguish something as being different from something else; to differentiate. 

  • To perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry. 

  • To perceive differences. 

spy

verb
  • To spot; to catch sight of. 

  • To act as a spy. 

  • To search narrowly; to scrutinize. 

  • To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country. 

noun
  • A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately. 

  • A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage). 

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