bearing vs figure

bearing

noun
  • One's posture, demeanor, or manner. 

  • One's understanding of one's orientation or relative position, literally or figuratively. 

  • A mechanical device that supports another part and/or reduces friction. 

  • The horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and that of true north; a heading or direction. 

  • Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms. 

  • That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports. 

  • Relevance; a relationship or connection. 

  • The unsupported span. 

  • The portion of a support on which anything rests. 

adj
  • That bears (some specified thing). 

  • Of a beam, column, or other device, carrying weight or load. 

figure

noun
  • The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person. 

  • A visible pattern as in wood or cloth. 

  • A number, an amount. 

  • A drawing or diagram conveying information. 

  • A human figure, which dress or corset must fit to; the shape of a human body. 

  • A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment. 

  • The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term. 

  • A figure of speech. 

  • A person or thing representing a certain consciousness. 

  • A numeral. 

  • A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses. 

  • Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression. 

  • The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modelling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body. 

  • A shape. 

  • Any complex dance moveᵂ. 

verb
  • To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize. 

  • To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords. 

  • To calculate, to solve a mathematical problem. 

  • To enter into; to be a part of. 

  • To think, to assume, to suppose, to reckon. 

  • To embellish with design; to adorn with figures. 

  • To embellish. 

  • To come to understand. 

  • To be reasonable. 

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