desert vs emptiness

desert

noun
  • Any barren place or situation. 

  • That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward. 

  • A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland. 

verb
  • To leave (anything that depends on one's presence to survive, exist, or succeed), especially when contrary to a promise or obligation; to abandon; to forsake. 

  • To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission. 

adj
  • Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited. 

emptiness

noun
  • The state or feeling of being empty. 

  • A void; a nothingness; something lacking existence. 

  • A nonexistence; a lack of existence. 

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