description vs discourse

description

noun
  • A descriptive linguistic survey. 

  • A sketch or account of anything in words; a portraiture or representation in language; an enumeration of the essential qualities of a thing or species. 

  • The act or practice of recording and describing actual language usage in a given speech community, as opposed to prescription, i.e. laying down norms of language usage. 

  • A set of characteristics by which someone or something can be recognized. 

  • A scientific documentation of a taxon for the purpose of introducing it to science. 

  • The act of describing; a delineation by marks or signs. 

discourse

noun
  • Expression in words, either speech or writing. 

  • A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written. 

  • An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel Foucault). 

  • Any rational expression, reason. 

verb
  • To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason. 

  • To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse. 

  • To write or speak formally and at length. 

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