abandonment vs discharge

abandonment

noun
  • The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment. 

  • The self-surrender to an outside influence. 

  • Abandon; careless freedom or ease; surrender to one's emotions. 

  • The relinquishment by the insured to the underwriters of what may remain of the property insured after a loss or damage by a peril insured against. 

  • A refusal to receive freight so damaged in transit as to be worthless and render carrier liable for its value. 

  • The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special relation, as a wife, husband or child; desertion. 

  • An abandoned building or structure. 

  • The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege; relinquishment of right to secure a patent by an inventor; relinquishment of copyright by an author. 

  • The cessation of service on a particular segment of the lines of a common carrier, as granted by a government agency. 

discharge

noun
  • The act of expelling or letting go. 

  • The volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time, usually in units of m³/s (cubic meters per second). 

  • The process of flowing out. 

  • The act of firing a projectile, especially from a firearm. 

  • Pus or exudate (other than blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to infection or pathology. 

  • The act of accomplishing (an obligation) or repaying a debt etc.; performance. 

  • The act of releasing an inpatient from hospital. 

  • The act of releasing an accumulated charge. 

  • The act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service. 

  • The process of unloading something. 

verb
  • To operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling). 

  • To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to. 

  • To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss. 

  • To release (an accumulated charge). 

  • To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty. 

  • To let fly, as a missile; to shoot. 

  • To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear. 

  • To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument. 

  • To unload a ship or another means of transport. 

  • To give forth; to emit or send out. 

  • To release (an inpatient) from hospital. 

  • To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled. 

  • To set aside; to annul; to dismiss. 

  • To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process. 

  • To release (a member of the armed forces) from service. 

  • To accomplish or complete, as an obligation. 

  • To expel or let go. 

  • To let fly; to give expression to; to utter. 

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